UC-NRLF 


$B    5fl7    175 


VRTMENT  OF  COMMERCE  AND  LABOR 

JREAU  OF  1MMIGRA.T10N  AND  NATURALIZATION 
DIVISION  OF  INFORMATION 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED 

ALIENS  AND  OTHER 

RESIDENTS 


* 


PROCEEDINGS  o///ie  CONFERENCE 

OF  STATE  IMMIGRATION,  LAND.  AND  LABOR 
OFFICIALS  WITH  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
DIVISION  OF  INFORMATION,  BUREAU  OF  IMMI- 
GRATION AND  NATURAUZATION,  DEPARTMENT 
OF  COMMERCE  AND  LABOR  ::       •■       .•.      •• 


HELD  IN  WASHINGTON.  D.  C.  NOVEMBER  16*ad  17. 1911 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFRCE 

1912 


J ^ ^^^  ^  ^ 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/distributionofadOOnatirich 


DEPARTMENT  OF  COMMERCE  AND  LABOR 

(V"         BUREAU  OF  IMMIGRATION  AND  NATURALIZATION 
DIVISION  OF  INFORMATION 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED 

ALIENS  AND  OTHER 

RESIDENTS 


PROCEEDINGS  of  the  CONFERENCE 

OF  STATE  IMMIGRATION.  LAND.  AND  LABOR 
OFFICIALS  WITH  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE 
DIVISION  OF  INFORMATION.  BUREAU  OF  IMMI- 
ORATION  AND  NATURALIZATION.  DEPARTMENT 
OF  COMMERCE  AND  LABOR  ::       ::       :: 

HELD  IN  WASHINGTON.  D.  C.  NOVEMBER  16  and  17. 191 1 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1912 


\^ 


•,.'  •  •>.' 


UST   OF  DELEGATES  WHO  ATTENDED   THE   CONFERENCE. 


Arkansas : 
J.  C.  South, 
Special  Representative, 
Chief  Clerk  of  House  of  Representa- 
tives, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


Illinois: 

David  Ross, 

Secretary,  Bureau  of  Lahor  Statistics, 

Springfield. 


California : 

John  P.  McLaughlin, 

Commissioner  of  Bureau  of  Lahor 

Statistics, 
948  Market  Street,  San  Francisco. 

Robert  Newton  Lynch, 
Vice  President  California  Development 

Board, 
Union  Ferry  Building,  San  Francisco. 


Iowa: 
J.  C.  Walker, 

Special  Representative, 

Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics, 

Box  118,  Senate  Post  Office,  Washing- 

ington,  D.  C. 


Kansas : 

Charles  Harris, 

Director, 

State  Free  Employment  Bureau, 

Topeka. 


Colorado : 

Alfred  Patek, 

Commissioner  of  Immigration, 

Statehouse,    Denver. 


Delaware : 

Wesley  Webb, 

Corresponding  Secretary,  State  Board 

of  Agriculture^ 

Dover. 

Newton  L.  Grubb, 

Member  of  Board  of  Immigration, 

Grubbs. 

O.  A.  Newton, 

Member  of  Board  of  Immigration^ 

Bridgeville. 


Louisiana : 
Justin  F.  Denechaud, 

Secretary,   Louisiana   State   Board   of 

Agriculture  and  Immigration, 
State  Museum  Building,  New  Orleans. 


Maryland : 

A.  F.  Trappe, 

Secretary,  Maryland  State  Bureau  of 

Immigration, 

Baltimore. 

Frank  Armiger, 
Assistant,  Maryland  Bureau  of  Statis- 
tics a/nd  Information, 
Equitable  Building,  Baltimore. 


Hawaii : 

John  J.  D.  Trenor, 

Special  Representative, 

Department  of  Immigration,  Labor,  and 

Statistics  of  the  Territory 

of  Hawaii, 

142    East    Sixty-second    Street,    New 

York   City. 


Massachusetts : 

Charles  F.  Gettemy, 

Director,  Bureau  of  Statistics, 

Statehouse,   Boston. 


Minnesota : 

A.  E.  Nelson, 

Member  of  Board  of  Immigratiof%, 

Minneapolis. 

3 


968355 


LIST   OF  DELEGATES. 


Montana:' 

H.  L.  Myers,  U.  S.  S., 

Special  Representative, 

United     States     Senate,     Washington, 

D.  C. 


Nebraska: 
J.  B.  Haynes, 

Special  Representative^ 
Omaha. 

Louis  V.  Guye, 

Chief  Deputy  Commissioner  of  Labor, 
Lincoln. 


New  Jersey: 

Theodore  Brown, 

Representative   of   New   Jersey 

Board   of  Agriculture, 

Swedesboro. 


State 


New  York: 
Miss  Frances  A.  Kellor, 
Chief   Investigator,    New    York    State 
Bureau  of  Industries  and  Immi- 
gration, 
22   East  Thirtieth   Street,   New   York 
City. 

John  Daniels, 

Acting  Secretary   to   Miss  Kellor, 

837   Chamber  of  Commerce  Building, 

Buffalo. 

Raymond  A.  Pearson, 

Commissioner  of  Agriculture, 
Albany. 

Henry  H.  Kracke, 

Assistant  Commissioner  of  Agriculture, 
23  Park  Row,  New  York  City. 


North  Dakota : 

C.  A.  LOUNSBERRY, 

Special   Representative, 
76  New  York  Avenue  NE.,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 


Oregon : 
Le  Roy  Park, 

Chairman  Board  of  Immigration, 
Portland. 


Tennessee : 

T.  F.  Peck, 

Commissioner  of  Agriculture, 

Nashville. 


Texas : 
Austin  Cunningham, 

Special  Representative, 
18  Third  Street  SE.,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Ohio: 

A.  P.  Sandles,. 

Secretary  of  Agriculture, 

Columbus. 


Utah: 
H.  T.  Haines, 

Commissioner  of  Immigration,  Labor 
and   Statistics, 
Salt  Lake  City. 


Washington : 
Ashmun  Brown, 
Special  Representative,  Bureau  of  Sta- 
tistics, Agriculture  and  Immigra- 
tion, 
The  Congressional,  Washington,  D.  G. 


West   Virginia : 

John  Nugent, 

Commissioner  of  Immigration, 

Montgomery. 


Wisconsin : 

Benj.  G.  Packer, 

Commissioner  of  Immigration, 

Madison. 

J.  D.  Beck, 

Commissioner  of  Labor  Statistics, 
Madison. 


Wyoming : 

Roy  W.  Schenck, 

Commissioner  of  Immigration, 

Cheyenne. 


IIST  OF   DELEGATES.  5 

Southern   Commercial   Congress;  Division  of  Information: 

G.  Grosvenor  Dawe,  T.  V.  Powderly, 

Managing   Director,  Chief  of  Division, 

Southern  Building,  Washington,  D.  0.  Washington,  D.  O. 

LeRoy  Hodges, 

Commissioner  of  Immigration,  South-  J-  L-  McGreW, 

em  Commercial  Congress,  Assistant   Chief  of  Division, 

Southern  Building,  Washington,  D.  C.  Washington,  D.  C. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  there  were  present : 

M.  V.  Richards,  J.  N.  Anderson, 

Land  and  Industrial  Agent,  Southern  Immigration  Agent,  Missouri  Pacific; 
Railway,  Iron  Mountain  Railway, 

Washington,  D.  C.  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

T.  C.  KiMBER,  John  H.  Moore, 

General    Immigration    Agent,     Gould     Chairman   Committee   on  Information 

Railroads  in   Texas,  for  Aliens,   The  National  Society 

207  Missouri  Pacific  Building,  St.  Louis.  of  the  Sons  of  the  American 

Revolution, 
The  Wyoming,  Washington,  D,  O. 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED. 


Resolved^  That  this  conference  become  a  permanent  organization, 
to  be  known  as  the  National  Conference  of  Immigration,  Land,  and 
Labor  Officials,  and  that  officers  and  an  executive  committee  thereof, 
with  full  powers,  be  elected ;  and  that  membership  in  this  conference 
be  restricted  to  State  and  Federal  officials  and  their  duly  appointed 
representatives;  and  that  the  original  membership  consist  of  such 
officials  present  at  this  first  conference. 

Resolved^  That  this  conference  establish,  during  the  ensuing  year, 
such  offices  and  at  such  points  as  the  executive  committee  shall  deter- 
mine, provided  funds  therefor  can  be  obtained. 

Resolved^  That  the  objects  of  this  conference  shall  be: 

(1)  To  arouse  public  sentiment  (a)  favoring  increased  congres- 
sional appropriation  enabling  the  Federal  Division  of  Information  of 
the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and  Naturalization  of  the  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor  to  induce  admitted  foreign-born  and  native  peo- 
ple to  leave  congested  population  centers  and  go  to  agricultural  and 
other  industries;  (6)  favoring  the  creation  of  State  bureaus  of  immi- 
gration and  information,  with  representatives  at  ports  of  entry,  and 
appropriations  therefor  by  the  several  States;  (c)  favoring  the  exten- 
sion of  the  activities  of  such  bureaus  for  the  protection,  education, 
and  assimilation  of  immigrants;  {d)  favoring  the  fullest  cooperation 
between  the  several  State  bureaus  and  between  the  State  bureaus  and 
the  Federal  Division  of  Information  in  the  above  objects. 

(2)  To  enlist  the  aid  and  cooperation  of  commercial,  civic,  philan- 
thropic, and  other  organizations  in  the  above  objects. 

Resolved^  That  the  executive  committee  of  this  conference  be  in- 
structed to  prepare,  in  cooperation  with  the  Chief  of  the  Division  of 
Information  of  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and  Naturalization  of 
the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  amendments  enlarging  the 
powers  of  said  division  to  deal  with. interstate  problems  affecting  the 
distribution,  protection,  and  welfare  of  admitted  aliens  and  other 
residents,  and  enabling  the  said  division  to  establish  branches  at 
such  centers  of  distribution  as  may  be  deemed  advisable. 

Resolved^  That  this  conference  recommend  the  establishment  of 
State  free  employment  bureaus  in  the  various  States  and  the  enact- 
ment of  laws  safeguarding  laborers  in  search  of  employment. 

7 


8  RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED. 

Resolved^  That  the  present  conference  respectfully  express  to  the 
honorable  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  its  hope  that  he  will 
find  it  possible  and  agreeable  to  have  the  proceedings  of  the  present 
C(.iiference  separately  published  by  his  department  at  as  early  a  date 
as  may  prove  feasible  and  in  sufficient  number  for  widespread  dis- 
tribution. 

Resolved^  That  this  conference,  having  full  knowledge  of  the  splen- 
did and  patriotic  work  done  by  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion in  preparing,  publishing,  and  placing  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Federal  Government,  through  the  Division  of  Information,  the 
pamphlets  Information  for  Immigrants,  Naturalization  of  Aliens 
in  the  United  States,  and  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  having  learned  of  the  great  aid  rendered  the  Division 
of  Information  by  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution  through  its 
cordial  cooperation  in  the  work  of  distribution,  desires  to  express  its 
approbation  of  the  work  so  successfully  accomplished,  and  its  appre- 
ciation of  the  great  interest  taken  in  the  making  of  Americans  out 
of  the  aliens  admitted  to  our  country,  by  an  organization  whose  fore- 
fathers pledged  "life,  liberty,  and  their  sacred  honor"  in  defense 
of  the  principles  on  which  our  Government  rests. 

Resolved^  That  this  conference,  having  full  knowledge  of  the 
splendid  and  patriotic  work  done  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution  in  preparing,  publishing,  and  distributing  the  Guide  to 
the  United  States  for  the  Immigrant  Italian,  by  John  Foster  Carr, 
and  having  learned  of  the  great  aid  rendered  the  Division  of  Infor- 
mation by  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  through  its 
cordial  cooperation  in  the  work  of  that  division,  desires  to  express 
its  approbation  of  the  work  so  successfully  accomplished,  and  its  ap- 
preciation of  the  great  interest  taken  in  the  making  of  Americans 
out  of  the  aliens  admitted  to  our  country,  by  an  organization  whose 
forefathers  pledged  "  life,  liberty,  and  their  sacred  honor  "  in  defense 
of  the  principles  on  which  our  Government  rests. 

Resolved^  That  the  members  of  the  present  conference  express  to 
Mr.  Powderly,  the  honorable  Chief  of  the  Federal  Division  of  Infor- 
mation of  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and  Naturalization,  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor,  their  gratitude  to  him  for  calling  them 
together  and  their  appreciation  of  the  admirable  and  effective  man- 
ner in  which  he  has  presided  at  the  sessions  of  this  conference. 


NATIONAL  CONFERENCE  OF  IMMIGRATION,  LAND, 
AND  LABOR  OFFICIALS 

HELD    IN   THE   PARLORS    OF    THE    EBBITT    HOUSE    WASHINGTON,    D.   C, 
NOVEMBER  16  AND  17.  1911. 


FIRST  SESSION. 

MORNING  OF  THURSDAY.  NOVEMBER  16.  1911. 

The  conference  assembled  at  10  a.  m.,  Hon.  T.  V.  Powderly  in  the 
chair. 

Mr.  Powderly.  The  meeting  will  come  to  order.  We  have  no  roll 
call,  because  we  have  not  as  yet  made  up  a  list  of  those  in  attendance. 
That  will  be  impossible  until  we  ascertain  who  have  responded  to 
the  call.  Therefore,  the  first  business  in  order  will  be  to  have  a  sec- 
retary appointed,  and,  inasmuch  as  Mr.  McGrew,  Assistant  Chief  of 
the  Division  of  .Information,  is  himself  a  stenographer  and  accus- 
tomed to  such  matters,  I  will  appoint  him  to  act  as  the  secretary  of 
the  meeting. 

We  have  also  arranged  to  have  an  official  record  of  the  conference 
taken  by  one  of  the  most  accomplished  stenographers  in  that  line  in 
the  city.  Mr.  Caswell  has  consented  to  act  for  us  in  taking  the  re- 
marks made,  so  that  when  the  convention  adjourns  we  will  have  a 
complete  record  of  it. 

The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  announce  the  names  of  those  present  so 
far  as  possible.    The  secretary  will  attend  to  that. 

Mr.  Harris.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  have  them  answer  as  their 
names  are  called? 

Mr.  Powderly.  I  will  be  glad  to  suggest  that.  The  gentlemen 
whose  names  are  called  will  kindly  answer  or  respond  by  rising  to 
their  feet  at  the  time,  so  that  we  may  recognize  them  and  be  able  to 
know  them  from  this  time  on. 

The  roll  was  thereupon  called. 

Mr.  Powderly.  You  will  understand  that  there  are  several  gentle- 
men present  who  do  not  represent  States.  They  are  here,  however, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  wishes  of  the  States  in  the  matter 
and  to  note  the  deliberations  for  their  own  information  and  for  the 
good  of  the  country  as  well. 

9 


10  DISTRiBUTIOlT   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  in  1907  passed  a  law  which 
provided  for  the  establishment  of  a  Division  of  Information,  the 
duty  of  which  should  be  to  promote  a  beneficial  distribution  of  ad- 
mitted aliens.  Its  purpose  was  to  correspond  with  State  officials  and 
others,  and  obtain  from  every  available  source  information  concerning 
the  products,  resources,  physical  characteristics,  etc.,  of  the  States, 
publish  the  same  in  bulletin  form,  and  give  the  information  gathered 
to  all  who  might  inquire  for  it.  That,  of  course,  included  our  own 
citizens  as  well  as  immigrants.  Whatever  our  feelings  may  be  as  to 
whether  we  should  give  information  to  arriving  aliens  or  not,  we 
have  no  doubt  that  our  own  citizens  should  have  access  to  everything 
good  that  the  country  possesses.  For  that  reason,  the  information 
that  we  have  gathered  is  available  to  everybody. 

Up  to  that  time  nothing  had  been  done  with  a  view  to  diverting 
the  stream  of  immigration  from  our  large  and  congested  centers  out 
to  the  land  or  small  towns,  and  as  a  consequence  the  population  of 
cities  increased;  then,  with  the  tendency  of  the  boy  on  the  farm  to 
leave  the  farm  and  go  to  the  city,  the  population  in  rural  districts 
diminished.  And  so  we  have  the  cities  being  fed  from  two  sources — 
immigration  from  abroad  and  imnygration  to  the  cities  from  the 
States  and  Territories.  Something  is  wrong  when  a  condition  of 
that  kind  can  be  truthfully  told  of,  and  we  are  here  to-day  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  whether  it  may  not  be  possible  for  the  States, 
through  their  immigration  bureaus  and  their  labor  bureaus,  to  so 
cooperate  with  the  Federal  Government  through  the  Division  of 
Information  as  to  turn  this  tide  of  immigration  away  from  the  cities, 
and  to  furnish  places  for  our  own  citizens  as  well  throughout  the 
country. 

I  do  not  think  I  am  imparting  a  secret  to  you  when  I  tell  you  that 
a  great  part  of  the  correspondence  of  the  Division  of  Information 
comes  from  residents  of  this  country  and  citizens  of  the  country, 
native  as  well  as  naturalized,  who  have  lived  here  for  years  (I  mean 
the  naturalized  ones)  and  are  anxious  to  change  from  the  city  to  the 
country.  Some  of  them  were  agriculturists  in  early  life.  I  have 
noted  the  ages  of  those  who  make  application  and  invariably  they  are 
not  over  40  years  of  age.  A  man  of  40  with  a  family  of  young  chil- 
dren— three,  four,  or  five — wishing  to  go  on  the  land  should  have 
the  opportunity.  He  has  a  few  hundred  dollars,  maybe  thousands. 
He  wants  to  know  where  to  go,  and  up  to  the  present  time,  or  up  to 
within  about  a  year,  the  division  could  not  tell  him  definitely  where 
he  could  find  the  land  and  the  conditions  that  he  wanted.  We  are 
beginning  to  get  that,  through  the  different  State  officials,  and  there 
should  be  some  means  adopted  whereby  every  State  in  the  Union 
should  tell  that  man  what  it  has  to  offer  him ;  and  every  State  in  the 
Union  has  something  to  offer  to  a  man  who  wishes  to  leave  some  other 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  11 

State.  We  do  not  have  anything  to  do  with  the  man  across  the 
water ;  that  is  entirely  foreign  to  our  purpose.  Immigration  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with — it  is  the  resident  of  the  United  States,  once  he 
has  legally  passed  the  gateway  of  our  country  and  is  among  us.  If 
he  is  fit  to  come  among  us,  we  should  treat  him  kindly  and  we  should 
take  care  of  him,  for  our  own  sake  if  not  for  his.  We  should  do 
something  toward  steering  him  properly  when  he  gets  here,  and  not 
allow  him  to  fester  in  the  slums,  as  we  have  so  often  been  told  of; 
he  should  be  told  of  the  advantages  this  country  has  to  offer  him 
out  on  the  acres. 

We  hear  about  the  abandoned  farms  of  New  England,  New  York, 
and  Pennsylvania.  There  are  no  abandoned  farms  in  any  of  those 
States,  not  one;  but  there  are  lands  not  being  used,  because  people 
do  not  know  of  them.  That  is  the  view  I  take  of  it.  And  the  same 
thing  may  be  said  of  a  great  many  other  States.  These  lands  should 
be  listed.  Those  who  have  charge  of  such  matters  in  the  various 
States  should  make  the  facts  known  through  some  central  source  to 
the  people  at  large. 

This  is  in  brief.  I  could  go  on  for  hours  and  tell  you  about  it,  but 
you  know  possibly  as  much  about  that  part  of  it  as  I  do,  if  not  more. 
We  are  here  for  the  purpose  of  arriving  at  some  conclusion  or 
arrangement  whereby  the  Federal  Government  may  cooperate  with 
the  States  through  you  gentlemen,  representing  the  agencies  having 
in  charge  the  diverting  of  immigration  to  the  places  that  you  know 
of  in  your  States.  Immigration  to  a  State  does  not  necessarily  mean 
that  it  should  come  from  abroad ;  one  can  immigrate  to  Kansas  from 
Pennsylvania,  or  to  Pennsylvania  from  New  Hampshire.  And  it  is 
immigration  into  the  States  that  we  are  to  talk  about. 

Having  said  that,  it  will  be  in  order  to  tell  you  why  I  did  not, 
when  I  was  asked*  to  do  it,  select  a  number  of  gentlemen  to  make 
speeches  here.  My  experience  in  life — and  I  have  had  possibly  25 
years  of  it;  I  am  just  as  young  as  you  are — is  that  when  a  man  has 
been  selected  to  make  a  speech  to  a  body  of  men  who  have  gathered 
together  for  the  first  time,  he  goes  through  the  dictionary  and  en- 
cyclopedia and  makes  up  a  real  pretty  speech ;  then  he  puts  his  right 
hand  in  here  [indicating]  and  stands  up  to  either  read  that  speech 
or,  if  he  has  committed  it  to  memory,  say  it  very  nicely,  while  away 
off  in  the  corner  some  other  man  with  a  good  deal  better  speech  bot- 
tled up  in  him  may  not  be  mentioned  or  know  that  he  will  have  an 
opportunity  of  saying  anything,  because  another  has  been  selected  to 
do  the  talking.  I  selected  each  one  of  you  to  do  his  own  talking, 
have  not  asked  any  man  to  come  here  to  make  a  speech,  but  each 
man  is  privileged — not  only  privileged,  but  has  a  right — to  tell  in 
his  own  way  what  he  knows  about  the  subject  and  what  he  believes. 
So  each  one  will  have  the  privilege  of  the  floor. 


12  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHEtlS. 

I  think  your  first  duty  is  to  select  a  chairman. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  under  the  circumstances  I  think  it 
would  be  entirely  proper  and  the  right  thing  that  the  present  chair- 
man be  selected.     I  therefore  move  that  that  be  our  desire. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

Mr.  Harris.  Gentlemen,  you  have  heard  the  motion  that  Mr. 
Powderly  be  our  chairman.     Are  there  any  objections? 

The  question  was  taken  and  the  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

The  Chairman  (Mr.  Powderly).  I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  this 
honor. 

Mr.  Haynes  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  if  not  out  of  order,  I 
should  like  to  move  the  selection  of  Mr.  McGrew  as  secretary  for 
the  conference. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried. 

The  Chairman.  I  do  not  know  whether  a  vote  is  necessary  for  Mr. 
Caswell  to  take  the  minutes  or  not,  but  I  think  it  would  be  proper. 

Mr.  Harris.  I  think,  Mr.  Chairman,  it  would  be  well  for  you  to 
handle  that  in  your  own  way. 

The  Chairman.  If  there  are  no  objections,  Mr.  Caswell  will  be 
recognized  as  the  official  stenographer  of  the  conference. 

What  is  your  further  pleasure  ? 

Mr.  Packer.  Mr.  Chairman,  are  those  publications  to  be  issued  in 
separate  pamphlets  for  each  State,  or  are  they  to  be  a  bound  volume  ? 

The  Chairman.  What  pamphlets? 

Mr.  Packer.  The  information  that  we  sent  in  some  time  since. 

The  Chairman.  Yes ;  they  are  to  be  published  in  bulletin  form.  I 
sent  out  a  circular  letter  to  the  various  State  agencies  and  officials  of 
the  various  States  a  couple  of  months  ago,  asking  them  to  prepare  a 
statement  of  their  conditions,  such  as  I  outlined  in  my  talk  a  little 
while  ago.  That,  when  collected,  will  be  published  in  pamphlet  form. 
Some  States  have  not  as  yet  responded.  We  get  all  kinds  of  informa- 
tion, and  some  of  it  is  not  informing,  so  that  we  have  to  keep  digging 
it  up  and  writing  them  to  send  it  in;  therefore,  we  are  a  little  late  in 
that.     It  is  not  our  fault,  because  we  can  not  get  it. 

Mr.  Haines  of  Utah.  You  said  two  months  ago.  Was  it  not  earlier 
than  that? 

The  Chairman.  Yes;  but  it  is  two  months  since  they  began  to 
come  in. 

Mr.  Trenor.  Mr.  Chairman,  inasmuch  as  it  is  customary  for  bodies 
of  gentlemen  assembled  in  Washington  for  different  purposes  to  pay 
their  respects  to  the  President,  if  it  be  the  wish  of  the  body  and  if  it 
be  compatible  with  the  President's  engagements  to  receive  us,  I  move 
that  we  call  at  a  suitable  time  on  the  President  to  pay  our  respects 
to  him. 

Mr.  Haines  of  Utah.  I  second  the  motion. 


I 


CONFERENCE  OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  13 

The  Chairman.  You  have  heard  the  motion.  I  believe  that  under 
such  circumstances  some  arrangement  should  be  made  beforehand. 
However,  we  will  take  your  wishes  in  the  matter.  Are  you  ready  for 
the  question? 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

Mr.  Haynes  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  move  that 
the  proceedings  of  this  conference  be  put  into  printed  form  by  the 
Division  of  Information,  if  that  course  of  action  is  possible.  That  is 
to  say,  I  would  like  to  have  the  sense  of  this  conference  on  that  point. 
Seeing  the  necessity  for  the  publication  of  the  proceedings  of  this 
conference,  if  it  can  be  done  as  a  departmental  matter,  I  move  that  it 
is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  that  be  done,  and  ask  for  a  second. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  excuse  me ;  I  understood  that  you  had 
already  provided  for  that. 

The  Chairman.  No  ;  I  have  not  provided  for  that. 

Mr.  Harris.  We  certainly  would  like  to  have  it ;  I  think  there  is  no 
doubt  about  that,  and  therefore  I  second  the  motion. 

A  Delegate.  Is  that  imposing  any  hardship  on  the  department  ? 

The  Chairman.  I  don't  know  as  to  that,  but  we  can  express  to  the 
department  the  sense  of  the  conference,  anyway.  That  is  what  Mr. 
Haynes's  motion  is,  I  believe. 

A  Delegate.  They  have  more  money  than  we  have.     [Laughter.] 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  your  further  pleasure  ? 

Mr.  Trenor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  that  you  appoint  a  committee 
to  call  upon  Secretary  Nagel  at  the  proper  time  to  escort  him  to  the 
meeting. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried. 

The  Chairman.  I  think  it  will  be  in  order  to  appoint  the  mover 
of  the  motion.    You  did  not  specify  how  many. 

Mr.  Trenor.  I  leave  that  to  the  Chair. 

The  Chairman.  I  will  appoint  as  chairman  of  the  committee  Mr. 
Trenor,  of  Hawaii ;  Mr.  Pearson,  of  New  York ;  Mr.  McLaughlin,  of 
California;  and  Mr.  Cunningham,  of  Texas.  The  secretary  will  be 
ready,  I  think,  about  11  o'clock. 

I  think  an  expression  of  opinion  from  the  representatives  present 
as  to  the  purpose  of  the  meeting  would  be  in  order;  and,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  special  roll  call,  I  would  like  to  hear  from  those  who 
have  anything  to  offer  and  are  prepared  to  offer  it  at  this  time. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman:  Previous  to  coming  here  I  studied 
over  the  matter ;  and,  while  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  give  any  special 
information,  I  prepared  in  typewriting  a  statement  of  the  workings 
of  the  free  employment  bureau  of  Kansas,  and  possibly  the  quickest 
way  would  be  for  me  to  read  that,  as  I  would  be  liable  to  overlook 


14  DISTRIBUTION    OF   ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

some  points  in  it  if  I  should  attempt  to  talk  from  memory.  It  is  not 
long,  and  possibly  it  may  be  of  interest  to  some.  At  least  I  find  that 
Nebraska,  Minnesota,  and  our  neighboring  States  on  the  north  are 
interested. 

The  bureau  of  free  employment  in  Kansas  has  acted  as  an  immi- 
gration bureau  for  that  State  to  a  large  extent,  inasmuch  as  every 
year,  through  its  instrumentality,  there  are  from  20,000  to  40,000, 
and  even  50,000,  strangers  brought  from  every  section  of  the  Union, 
and  from  outside  of  the  Union — from  the  Provinces  of  Canada — to 
harvest  our  immense  wheat  crops.  These  men  come  there  and  see 
what  the  country  is,  and  it  seems  to  me  it  is  one  of  the  best  methods 
of  advertising  that  we  could  have  out  there,  and  the  best  method  of 
influencing  people  who  wish  to  farm  to  come  where  they  can  see 
immense  crops  and  make  their  own  estimates. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  make  any  further  talk,  but  will  simply  read 
this  paper : 

The  State  Free  Employment  Bureau  of  Kansas  has  been  in  active  operation 
since  March,  1891.  It  was  created  avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  hands 
to  harvest  the  great  wheat  crops  of  Kansas;  and  when  it  is  taken  into  con- 
sideration that  from  20,000  to  40,000  hands,  in  addition  to  those  already  in 
the  State,  have  to  be  imported  from  other  States,  it  will  be  readily  seen  that 
the  task  is  no  light  one.  Yet  this  task  has  been  more  or  less  successfully 
accomplished  each  year  since  the  organization  of  the  bureau,  and  generally 
without  overdoing  the  matter.  In  fact,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  harvest, 
there  has  never  been  a  year  in  Kansas  since  the  organization  of  the  bureau 
when  a  few  more  harvest  hands  could  not  have  found  employment. 

The  experience  of  the  bureau  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that  the  great  task 
of  the  bureau  is  not  so  much  to  get  a  great  army  of  men  to  go  to  Kansas  to 
gather  the  crops  as  it  is  to  get  them  properly  distributed  where  their  services 
are  most  needed.  This  distribution  the  present  management  thinks  it  has  now 
under  thorough  control. 

A  couple  of  years  ago  a  good  test  was  made.  One  of  the  wheat  centers  adver- 
tised freely  in  a  number  of  the  largest  cities  for  several  thousands  of  hands 
to  harvest  the  wheat  of  the  county  in  which  the  city  was  situated.  As  the 
city  advertising  was  on  a  trunk  line  of  railroad,  and  the  advertising  was 
thoroi^ghly  done,  thousands  of  men  answered  in  person,  until  the  city  hall 
and  other  buildings  had  to  be  used  to  house  them,  and  the  streets  were  crowded 
with  men  unable  to  obtain  work.  The  correspondent  of  the  free  employment 
bureau  at  the  place  wired  an  account  of  the  situation  to  the  bureau.  Direc- 
tions were  at  once  wired  back  stating  places  needing  men  and  the  number 
needed  at  each  place,  and  before  12  hours  elapsed  the  congestion  was  at  an  end. 

The  mode  of  obtaining  the  necessary  information  is  as  follows:  About  April 
10  the  bureau  sends  out  its  "  First  inquiries,"  asking  correspondents  in  every 
county  raising  wheat  what  the  acreage  is  and  its  percentage  as  compared  with 
the  year  previous.  From  these  reports  an  estimate  of  the  total  acreage  of 
the  State  is  made. 

About  May  16,  or  later,  according  to  crop  prospects,  "  Harvest  schedule " 
inquiries  are  sent  out.  In  these  correspondents  are  asked  to  state  the  number 
of  men  and  teams  each  estimates  will  be  needed  from  outside  sources  to  har- 
vest the  crop  of  the  county,  and  the  number  needed  at  each  point  or  post  office 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  15 

in  the  county.  In  some  counties  there  are  a  number  of  correspondents.  The 
reports  from  all  of  these  are  taken  together  and  an  average  estimate  arrived  at. 
In  this  manner  a  very  correct  estimate  can  be  arrived  at,  which,  however,  may 
be  materially  changed  by  good  or  bad  crop  weather,  as  was  the  case  last  year, 
when  hot,  dry  weather  matured  crops  two  to  three  weeks  sooner  than  had 
been  expected  and  materially  cut  down  the  yield  in  Kansas,  and  almost 
destroyed  the  wheat  crop  in  Oklahoma,  Nebraska,  and  South  Dakota. 

On  the  contrary,  in  the  year  previous,  10  days  made  so  much  diiFer- 
ence  in  the  increase  of  the  crops  that  I  had  to  send  out  bulletins 
doubling  the  number  of  men.  I  first  had  called  for  20,000,  and  then 
asked  for  40,000  men.  So  that  even  such  a  short  space  of  time  as  10 
days  at  the  critical  period  will  almost  destroy  a  crop  or  will  double 
it,  and  we  have  to  keep  very  close  watch  of  this. 

From  the  last  reports  received  the  "  Harvest  schedule "  is  made  out,  con- 
sisting of  a  tabulated  statement  containing  the  name  of  every  county  in  the 
State  needing  hands,  with  the  number  asked  for  by  each  town,  village,  or  post 
office  in  the  county. 

Copies  of  this  schedule  are  furnished  the  Associated  Press,  the  ticket  agents 
of  all  the  different  railroads,  the  free  employment  agents  of  Missouri  at  Kansas 
City,  St.  Joseph,  and  elsewhere,  to  secretaries  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations, and  to  such  other  parties  that  are  willing  to  assist  in  this  distribution 
of  laborers  without  charging  for  their  services.  It  is  not  the  policy  of  the 
bureau  to  furnish  information  to  private  employment  agencies  which  charge 
workingmen  for  the  same. 

And  they  resort  to  all  methods  to  obtain  the  information  which 
the  State  has  gathered.  They  send  spies  up  to  my  office  when  I  am 
sending  men  to  the  harvest  fields  to  find  out  where  I  am  sending 
them,  and  then  they  go  back  to  their  offices  and  charge  $2,  $3,  and  $5 
for  that  information.  In  one  instance  a  batch  of  men  came  from 
Louisville,  Ky.,  and  paid  $17  apiece  to  an  employment  agent  down 
there,  and  all  he  did  was  to  send  them  to  the  director  of  the  State 
free  employment  bureau  in  Kansas. 

Then  the  bureau  is  swamped  with  letters  of  inquiry — as  many  as  200  a  day 
sometimes — all  of  which  are  promptly  answered,  and  inquirers  for  work  directed 
just  when,  where,  and  to  whom  to  report  in  the  harvest  field.  Previous  to  this, 
thousands  of  letters  have  been  received  and  answered  in  a  similar  manner, 
many  of  them  from  parties  who  have  helped  at  previous  harvests.  These 
letters  come  from  every  State  in  the  Union,  from  Maine  to  Florida  and  Texas 
to  California.  One  of  the  best  sources  from  which  Kansas  draws  her  harvest 
hands  is  the  great  colleges  of  the  Nation,  college  students  being  considered 
among  the  best  harvest  hands  that  enter  the  State. 

But  not  alone  does  the  bureau  furnish  harvest  hands  for  Kansas.  Every 
year  a  surplus  of  early  arrivals  start  in  on  the  border  line  of  Oklahoma,  and 
after  getting  through  with  Kansas  pass  on  to  Nebraska,  then  to  South  Dakota, 
North  Dakota,  Minnesota,  and  even  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  Nearly,  if  not 
all,  these  men  come  in  answer  to  the  harvest  call  of  Kansas  issued  by  the  free 
employment  bureau. 

So  that  Kansas  is  really  doing  a  work  in  this  bureau  fcr  several 
of  her  neighboring  States. 


16  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND   OTHERS. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  harvest  hands  have  to  pay  their  own 
way  to  the  harvest  fields,  as  the  railroads,  especially  in  the  West  where  they 
have  been  restricted  to  2  cents  a  mile,  utterly  refuse  to  make  any  reduced 
rates,  as  they  did  a  few  years  ago. 

They  are  still  giving  virtually  the  same  rate  that  they  used  to. 
They  used  to  give  me  a  rate  of  1  cent  a  mile  to  the  harvest  field  and 
3  cents  for  the  men  to  get  back  home  again,  which  made  4  cents  for 
the  round  trip.  They  now  make  it  2  cents  each  way,  and  they  say 
they  are  doing  just  as  well  now  as  they  did  then  for  the  hands. 

Yet,  so  far,  there  has  been  no  great  difficulty  in  securing  all  the  hands 
needed.  There  are,  possibly,  several  causes  for  this.  The  principal  one,  how- 
ever, is  the  good  wages  paid,  ranging  from  $2.50  a  day  and  board  up  to  as 
high  as  $4  a  day  for  especially  capable  hands. 

Many  come  to  the  harvest  fields  for  the  good  of  their  health,  for  the  exer- 
cise, and  the  wonderful  ozone  of  the  Kansas  harvest  field.  This  is  especially 
applicable  in  the  case  of  the  college  students  referred  to  above. 

These  college  students  go  out  there,  and  every  dollar  they  make  is 
clear  money.  It  does  not  cost  them  anything  to  live  while  there,  and 
they  live  on  the  fat  of  the  land.  Lots  of  them  have  written  to  me 
that  they  make  enough  during  the  harvest  (and  they  follow  it  up 
into  Nebraska  and  South  Dakota,  frequently)  to  pay  their  college 
expenses  during  the  following  winter. 

Then  there  are  many  who  come  to  the  harvest  fields  for  the  experience  and  in 
order  to  make  arrangements  to  learn  Kansas  farming,  with  the  intention  of 
making  the  State  their  home.  And  in  this  manner  many  of  our  best  farmers 
have  come  to  Kansas. 

I  am  in  receipt  of  lots  of  letters  to  that  effect. 

The  State  Free  Employment  Bureau  also  conducts  an  everyday  business  of 
bringing  employers  and  employees  together,  and,  under  an  act  of  the  last 
legislature,  has  supervision  of  all  private  employment  agencies  in  the  State, 
the  director  being  empowered  to  issue  licenses,  collect  fees  for  same,  and  to 
revoke  said  licenses  for  good  and  sufficient  cause,  and  to  prosecute  employment 
agents  for  fraudulent  acts. 

There  was  another  point  that  I  forgot  in  regard  to  this.  As  I 
say,  the  bureau  keeps  a  close  tab  and  directs  the  men  right  from  their 
homes  in  North  Carolina,  Texas,  Maine,  or  wherever  it  may  be,  to 
the  individual  farmers  that  they  are  going  to  work  for.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  in  this  last  year,  circumstances  may  change  things 
within  a  very  few  days.  Last  year  we  had  extremely  dry  weather 
and  extremely  hot  weather.  In  some  places  they  got  as  much  as  30 
bushels  an  acre  from  wheat  that  was  not  over  6  to  8  inches  high.  They 
had  to  use  a  header  entirely  for  it,  and  the  wheat  crop  matured  so 
quickly  that  it  threatened  to  throw  thousands  of  hands  into  Kansas 
with  no  work  in  prospect  for  all  of  them.  The  bureau  then  imme- 
diately notified  all  the  college  presidents  from  whom  they  had 
already  engaged  hands,  telling  them  to  stop  all  students  who  had 
not  already  started.     It  also   sent  word  throughout   the   country 


CONFERENCE  OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  17 

through  the  Associated  Press,  and  by  this  means  kept  not  only  our  own 
State,  but  possibly  other  States,  from  being  flooded  with  idle  hands. 

Gentlemen,  if  this  information  is  of  any  benefit,  I  thank  you  for 
listening  to  me.     [Applause.] 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  ask  a  question,  with 
your  permission.  I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Harris  what  is  done  in  the 
matter  of  redistribution  at  the  end  of  the  harvest  season — whether 
his  bureau  does  any  practical  work  in  getting  these  men  back  to  the 
colleges  from  which  they  come. 

Mr.  Harris.  No  ;  they  find  their  own  way  back. 

Miss  Kellor.  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  effect  on  the  com- 
munities from  which  the  men  are  drawn  at  this  season  of  the  year; 
that  is,  the  effect  upon  the  industries  or  occupations  which  they  pre- 
sumably desert,  unless  they  are  a  floating  population?  Have  you 
any  information  about  that? 

Mr.  Harris.  No  ;  I  have  no  information  about  that  at  all.  I  think 
the  majority  of  the  men  who  come  out  to  the  harvest  in  Kansas  and 
in  the  West  are  not  mechanics;  they  are  not  in  steady  employment. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  college  students.  A  great  many  that  come 
out  to  the  harvest  in  the  West,  I  am  of  opinion,  and  in  fact  I  know 
from  talking  with  them,  do  not  come  to  the  harvest  because  of  the 
wages,  but  for  the  experience  and  for  the  tonic — their  health.  They 
go  out  there  and  they  get  as  brown  as  a  mulatto,  almost,  out  in  the 
field,  and  eat  four  times  as  much  as  they  ever  were  known  to  eat 
before,  and  go  back  home  strong  and  healthy,  and  lots  of  them  return 
just  for  that  effect.  I  have  never  heard  anything  in  regard  to  any 
effects,  harmful  or  otherwise,  from  the  great  army  of  harvesters 
coming  from  different  parts  of  the  Union  to  the  harvest  in  the  West. 
I  think  it  is  largely  composed  of  those  who  are  not  regularly  em- 
ployed. 

If  there  are  any  other  questions  that  anybody  thinks  of,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  answer  them  as  best  I  can. 

Mr.  South.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  suggest  to  the  gentle- 
men that  I  live  in  Arkansas,  and  many  hundreds  of  men  go  from  my 
State  to  the  Kansas  harvest  fields.  They  are  usually  young  men  who 
are  dependent  on  their  fathers  for  support  and  who  lie  around  a 
good  deal  of  the  time  at  home  with  nothing  to  do — the  sons  of  coun- 
try merchants  and  farmers  who  have  no  harvesting  to  do,  but  who 
engage  in  stock  raising  or  something  of  that  character,  which  during 
the  harvest  season  does  not  require  their  help.  From  my  own 
county  I  am  satisfied  that  a  hundred  men  go  every  year  into  central 
Kansas,  some  300  miles,  to  make  the  liberal  wages  that  are  offered. 
It  does  not  interfere  with  the  local  labor,  because  there  is  nothing  to 
do  at  that  season  of  the  year. 

I  thank  you  for  your  information, 
^508°'— }? Z 


18  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

A  Delegate.  Mr.  Chairman,  will  the  speaker  kindly  tell  us  what 
proportion  of  these  laborers  are  foreigners,  and  among  those  what 
are  the  chief  nationalities? 

Mr.  Harris.  There  are  very,  very  few  foreigners.  They  are  nearly 
all  Americans,  possibly  some  of  foreign  descent.  It  is  very  rare  that 
we  find  anyone  coming  to  the  harvest  who  is  not  an  American  citizen. 

A  Delegate.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  w^ould  like  to  ask  the  gentleman 
what  proportion  of  those  remain  in  the  State,  and  what  avocations 
they  take  up  if  they  remain  there. 

Mr.  Harris.  I  could  not  answer  that.  If  I  could  get  all  of  them 
to  remain  there  Kansas  would  have  the  biggest  population  of  any 
State  in  the  Union  in  very  short  order.    [Laughter.] 

A  Delegate.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  ask  the  gentleman 
what  nationalities  of  laborers  are  used  on  the  railroads. 

Mr.  Harris.  A  great  many  out  there,  especially  of  late  years,  are 
Mexicans.  There  are  some  colored,  but  there  are  principally  Mexi- 
cans on  all  the  railroads,  I  think,  from  Kansas  west,  and — well,  from 
Chicago  and  possibly  farther  east.  I  do  not  wish  it  understood  that 
they  are  the  train  hands.  These  Mexican  laborers  are  the  men  who 
work  on  the  track  and  do  the  lowest  class  of  work.  There  is  nobody, 
I  think,  but  Americans  employed  on  the  railroad  itself. 

Mr.  Pearson.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  wish  to  ask  this  question :  Is  there 
a  growing  tendency  in  Kansas  to  adjust  the  system  of  farming  so 
that  labor  will  be  employed  more  and  more  throughout  the  entire 
year  on  the  farms? 

Mr.  Harris.  There  is  nothing  in  that  line  that  I  know  of.  We 
have  no  immigration  bureau. 

Mr.  Pearson.  To  apply  that,  for  example,  is  the  dairy  industry 
increasing  as  compared  with  the  wheat-raising  industry  in  Kansas? 

Mr.  Harris.  Oh,  yes ;  general  farming  in  that  line.  General  farm- 
ing all  through  Kansas  is  increasing,  I  think,  all  the  time,  and  there 
is  a  constant  demand  for  good  farm  hands.  There  is  a  class  of  men 
who  come  to  the  employment  office  and  their  faces  become  very 
familiar,  and  I  have  come  to  the  opinion  that  if  they  met  a  job  on 
the  sidewalk  when  they  were  coming  up  and  they  got  a  good  glance 
at  it  and  were  satisfied  that  it  was  a  job,  they  would  break  their 
necks  to  get  out  of  the  way.  [Laughter.]  And  they  are  the  ones 
that  bother  the  anployment  agents  most  to  get  them  a  nice  job — 
nothing  to  do,  lots  of  time  to  do  it  in,  and  good  big  wages.  [Laugh- 
ter.] 

Mr.  Sandles.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  ask  what  is  the  aver- 
age wage  paid  for  hired  men  throughout  the  year. 

Mr.  Harris.  Do  you  mean  farm  hands? 

Mr.  Sandles.  Yes,  sir ;  by  the  day  if  employed  that  way,  and  by 
the  month  if  employed  that  way. 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  19 

Mr.  Harris.  The  average  is  $25  and  board;  that  is,  they  give  a 
man  $25  if  he  says  he  is  a  farm  hand.  The  farmers  send  word  to 
me;  and  if  he  is  a  good  farm  hand  they  will  give  him  more  than 
that.  They  pay  $1.25  a  day  and  board  or  $1.50  a  day  and  let  them 
board  themselves.  That  is  about  the  average,  I  find.  But  the  day 
worker  at  $1.25  a  day  does  not  get  paid  for  the  days  he  does  not 
work.  When  it  rains  he  pays  his  board  but  does  not  get  any  Avages. 
That  is  the  difference.    Does  that  cover  the  question  ? 

Mr.  Sandles.  $1.25  with  board  or  $1.50  without  board  for  day 
laborers,  and  $25  with  board  by  the  month  ? 

Mr.  Harris.  Yes.     Gentlemen,  I  thank  you  for  your  courtesy. 

Mr.  LouNSBERRY.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  represent  North  Dakota,  and  I 
would  like  to  say,  in  reply  to  some  of  the  inquiries  that  have  been 
made,  that  our  State  is  largely  a  one-crop  State,  or  a  two-crop  State, 
wheat  and  flax  being  the  principal  crops,  and  necessarily  a  large 
number  of  farm  hands  are  required  during  the  harvest  season.  These 
farm  hands  come  from  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  sometimes 
as  far  east  as  Michigan.  They  are  generally  the  best  class  of  citizens, 
young  men  from  the  farm,  very  few  foreigners  among  the  number, 
and  they  come  as  a  God-send,  almost,  to  our  State;  and  when  their 
work  is  over,  with  very  few  exceptions,  they  return  whence  they 
came,  generally  with  a  good  fat  roll,  as  it  is  called  out  there,  for 
the  reason  that  the  wages  are  high,  sometimes  as  high  as  $2  a 
day,  during  the  harvest  season.  There  are  but  very  few"  disreputable 
characters  among  them;  but  very  few  dissolute  men  among  them. 
There  are  always  a  few  men  who  are  hangers-on,  who  seek  to  mis- 
lead them,  who  seek  to  inveigle  them  into  gambling  and  sometimes 
into  drinking,  from  the  distribution  of  liquor  by  "blind  pigs,"  as 
they  are  called,  or  bootleggers,  or  whatever  you  may  call  them. 
There  are  no  saloons  in  our  State,  prohibition  prevailing,  and  on  the 
first  offense  there  is  a  fine  of  $400  and  a  sentence  of  90  days,  and  on 
the  second  offense  they  are  sent  to  the  penitentiary,  so  that  the 
liquor  traffic  is  very  generally  suppressed ;  and  prohibition  grew  out 
of  the  necessity  for  farm  labor  during  the  harvest  season. 

Some  of  these  laborers  find  hemes  in  the  State  and  become  perma- 
nent and  valuable  settlers.  Of  that  portion,  however,  there  are  but 
few.  The  labor  of  the  railroads  was  for  a  time  Japanese ;  that  is,  on 
the  Great  Northern  Railroad.  I  think  it  has  discontinued  the 
use  of  Japanese  labor,  although  I  have  not  been  there  for  two  j^^ears, 
as  I  am  now  residing  in  this  city.  The  laborers,  aside  from  that,  are 
generally  the  people  who  have  homestead  claims  in  the  country — or 
at  least  some  of  them  have  homestead  claims — and  they  run  about 
as  our  settlers  do.  A  large  portion  of  our  settlers  are  Canadians 
and  Scandinavians.    Probably  fully  one-half  of  the  people  of  that 


20  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

State  are  Canadians  or  Scandinavians,  and  in  both  instances  they  are 
very  valuable  people. 

The  Kussian  people  are  among  the  very  best  settlers  in  the  western 
portion  of  the  State.  They  are  adapted  to  the  conditions  that  we 
have  there  and  are  good  citizens  and  good  farmers  and  a  valuable 
element  for  the  State  to  have.  The  Canadians  that  I  spoke  of  came 
came  very  largely  to  the  State  in  the  early  days  and  remained  there. 
There  is  a  floating  population  who  came  in  and  commuted  on  their 
homesteads  and  have  gone  over  into  the  Canadian  northwest  for 
settlement.  Possibly  100,000  people  have  gone  from  our  State  to 
the  Canadian  northwest,  but  the  Canadians  are  not  among  the  num- 
ber.    They  are  remaining. 

I  spoke  of  the  railroad  labor  being  largely  the  homestead  people 
and  sons  of  homestead  people  in  the  vicinity.  I  referred  to  the  sec- 
tion hands  and  the  people  engaged  in  keeping  up  the  repairs.  The 
extension  of  the  railroads  is  largely  done  by  Italian  labor;  that  is, 
the  Italians  form  the  greater  portion  of  that  labor. 

I  do  not  know  any  other  point  that  I  wish  to  present  at  this  time, 
Mr.  Chairman. 

(Secretary  Nagel  entered  the  room.) 

The  Chairman.  Previous  to  your  coming,  Mr.  Secretary,  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  wait  upon  you  and  escort  you  to  the  con- 
ference, but  your  messenger  came  over  and  said  it  would  not  be  nec- 
essary, as  the  Secretary  sent  word  that  he  knew  the  way  himself  and 
did  not  care  to  take  the  gentlemen  away  from  their  duties  here. 

Mr.  Secretary,  this  is  a  conference  of  the  officials  having  to  do 
with  immigration  and  labor  matters  in  the  various  States  and  Terri- 
tories, called  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a  cooperation  between  the 
Division  of  Information  of  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and  Natural- 
ization in  your  department  and  the  various  States  through  their 
boards  of  immigration,  and  they  are  here  discussing  various  plans 
looking  toward  that  end.  As  one  having  more  to  do  than  any  other 
with  the  final  determination  of  the  subjects  to  be  discussed  here  when 
properly  before  him,  I  take  great  pleasure  in  introducing  the  Secre- 
tary of  Commerce  and  Labor,  Mr.  Nagel,  who  is  here  to  speak  to 
you  upon  this  and  such  other  questions  as  he  may  deem  proper. 
[Applause.] 

ADDRESS  BY  SECRETARY  NAGEL. 

Secretary  Nagel.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  welcome  which  has 
undoubtedly  been  extended  to  you  I  can  only  confirm;  but  I  want, 
for  my  self, •  to  add  how  gratified  I  am  to  know  that  you  gentlemen, 
representing  the  States  of  the  Union,  have  thought  it  worth  while 
to  come  to  this  city  to  confer  together,  and  to  confer  with  us  as  to 
ways  and  means  by  which  the  solution  of  this  great  human  and 
economic  question  may  be  accomplished,  or  at  least  promoted, 


CONFERENCE  OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  21 

This  is  a  convention  city.  There  are  a  great  many  meetings  of 
representatives  of  different  interests  of  this  country  held  here.  They 
are  of  great  value,  because  if  nothing  more  is  accomplished  we  at 
least  have  the  result  that  representatives  from  different  parts  of  this 
varied  cotintry  have  a  chance  to  look  each  other  in  the  eye  and  to 
learn  by  direct  intercourse  what  are  the  opportunities  and  what  are 
the  embarrassments  of  different  sections  which  you  represent.  Long- 
range  shooting  is  a  dangerous  thing.  Most  misunderstandings  are  to 
be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  people  who  are  chiefly  interested  do 
not  get  around  the  same  table  and  talk  it  out  man  to  man.  New  York 
will  know  more  about  Louisiana,  and  California  will  know  more 
about  Florida,  if  the  representatives  meet  in  the  same  room,  at  the 
same  table,  and  talk  it  out. 

Of  course  the  conventions  which  have  usually  been  held  represent 
particular  interests.  We  have  been  individualists,  and  we  have  been 
accustomed  to  gather  our  forces  for  the  promotion  and  protection  of 
some  special  interest.  In  my  opinion,  very  much  of  our  difficulty  at 
the  present  time  is  to  be  attributed  to  that  fact.  We  have,  so  far,  not 
managed  to  bring  ourselves  together  into  one  body  of  men  who  find 
their  own  profit,  their  own  advantage,  and  their  own  success  in  the 
happiness  and  success  of  their  neighbor,  but  we  are  coming  to  it. 

Now,  this  meeting  is  of  an  entirely  different  character,  and  I 
welcome  it,  particularly  because  it  is  one  of  the  few  instances  in 
which  representatives  of  the  several  political  organizations  (speak- 
ing of  them  in  the  larger  sense)  of  this  country  have  come  together 
to  bring  about  an  intelligent,  patient,  and  successful  cooperation  of 
the  Federal  Government  with  the  individual  States. 

Nothing  is  so  necessary,  to  my  mind,  at  the  present  time  as  just 
such  cooperation.  We  have  spent  nearly  a  hundred  years  in  dis- 
cussing the  conflict  between  State  rights  and  national  power.  It 
was  inevitable.  We  had  to  make  enormous  sacrifices  to  bring  that 
question  to  anything  like  a  wholesome  decision.  But,  in  my  judg- 
ment, the  time  is  ripe  for  a  clear  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the 
real  solution  of  the  dual  system  of  government  lies,  not  in  an  attempt 
to  find  out  just  how  much  a  State  may  do,  or  how  far  the  National 
Government  may  encroach  upon  a  State,  but  to  find  out  how  that 
undefined  zone  between  ^Federal  and  State  authority  can  best  be 
solved  by  intelligent  cooperation  between  the  two. 

This  is  not,  of  course,  a  new  idea.  Again  and  again  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  has  said  that  these  are  questions  that 
can  be  solved  only  by  cooperation  between  the-  State  and  Federal 
authority.  It  is  for  commercial  power;  it  is  for  such  organizations 
as  you  have,  endeavoring  to  solve  such  problems  as  are  presented  to 
you,  to  carry  out  by  one  means  or  another  the  suggestion  which  has 
been  so  forcefully  stated  by  the  Supreme  Court. 


22  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

There  are  other  instances,  especially  in  my  department,  of  at- 
tempts at  cooperation  between  these  two  functions  of  government 
under  our  dual  system.  Different  phases  are  represented  in  different 
bureaus,  and  so  far,  I  think,  very  few  of  us  have  made  any  real  effort 
to  discriminate  as  to  what  forces  are  or  ought  to  be  engaged  in  that 
attempt. 

Take  the  Bureau  of  Labor,  for  instance.  That  bureau  makes  the 
most  exhaustive  examinations  into  wage  conditions  throughout  the 
United  States.  In  some  industries  we  have  reports  which  are 
practically  complete  as  to  the  wage-earning  conditions — not  only  as 
to  the  wages  but  as  to  the  conditions  under  which  men,  women,  and 
children  work.  Now,  many  citizens  assume  that,  inasmuch  as  the 
Federal  Government  has  made  this  investigation,  therefore  the 
Federal  Government  ought  to  provide  the  relief  for  the  conditions 
which  have  been  found.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  that  conclusion 
does  not  follow.  The  Federal  Government  ought  to  make  the  in- 
vestigation, because  all  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  (and  we 
have  such  a  thing  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States)  are  interested 
in  that  information;  and  in  order  that  we  may  have  that  informa- 
tion in  a  reliable  form,  so  that  comparisons  can  be  made  and  intelli- 
gent conclusions  may  be  drawn,  the  investigation  ought  to  be  made 
by  one  central  authority,  giving  the  results  upon  the  same  basis  by 
the  same  methods  throughout.  But,  as  I  say,  when  that  has  been 
done  it  does  not  follow  that  the  relief  for  the  conditions  should  be 
provided  by  the  same  authority. 

People  ask  me,  "Are  you  a  State  righter  or  are  you  a  nationalist  ?  " 
I  say,  "  I  am  neither  or  both."  I  believe  in  the  integrity  of  the  State 
and  I  believe  in  the  authority  of  the  Nation,  each  within  its  proper 
jurisdiction.  I  should  regret  the  day  when  the  National  Govern- 
ment is,  by  force  of  circumstances,  driven  to  assume  an  authority 
that  was  not  contemplated;  and  I  should  regret  the  day  when  the 
State  concludes  persistently  and  permanently  to  present  embarrass- 
ments to  the  intelligent  development  of  questions  that  in  their  very 
nature  are  of  a  national  character.  It  was  well  said  in  the  early 
days  by  Wilson  that  this  is  a  dual  system,  but  that  it  is  one  Govern- 
ment. The  State  must  be  permitted  to  do  everything  that  it  can  do, 
but  when  the  State  fails  there  must  be  some  government  to  take  its 
place. 

Generalizing  upon  that  question,  I  still  believe  that  the  State  has  to 
do  essentially  with  the  welfare  of  the  individual  man,  while  the 
National  Government  has  to  do  more  particularly  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  material  interests.  When  the  Bureau  of  Labor  has,  there- 
fore, made  its  investigation  and  given  its  report,  I  think  it  ought 
to  be  left  to  the  State  authorities,  by  their  action,  to  regulate  the 
conditions  in  their  own  domain.    If  they  fail  to  do  it,  no  one  can 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  23 

tell  what  will  follow,  because  the  pressure  for  relief  of  one  kind  or 
another  will  ultimately  be  so  strong  that  if  the  State  fails  the  Na- 
tional Government  will  be  driven  to  act.  Law  is  not  logic,  gentle- 
men. Government  is  a  practical  proposition.  The  Constitution 
itself  belongs  to  the  people,  and  when  relief  does  not  come  from  one 
source  there  is  always  danger  that  it  w^ill  be  provided  by  another. 

Take  another  bureau,  the  Bureau  of  Standaj-ds.  It  furnishes  the 
standards  not  only  for  weights  and  measures  but  for  a  great  many 
other  things — the  force  of  electricity,  thermometers,  the  strength  of 
materials,  cement,  steel,  etc.  These  standards  are  provided  for  the 
entire  country.  In  many  respects  they  are  agreed  to  by  other  nations. 
We  are  endeavoring  to  standardize  a  great  many  things  by  inter- 
national agreement,  to  come  to  a  common  conclusion,  because  we  are 
engaged  in  international  trade  upon  a  large  scale.  Now,  those  stand- 
ards should  be  left  to  be  enforced  by  State  authority,  in  my  judg- 
ment. The  question  is,  How  far  will  the  State  enforce  them  ?  The 
National  Government  is  authorized  by  the  Constitution  itself  to  fix 
weights  and  measures.  If  the  States  do  not  enforce  these  standards, 
the  National  Government  will  inevitably  be  compelled  to  insist  upon 
the  standards  which  it  has  fixed,  just  as  it  does  now  insist  upon  the 
integrity  of  the  dollar. 

These  are  mere  illustrations.  There  are  other  instances  of  pressing 
need  for  rational  cooperation.  Take  the  Division  of  Information  in 
the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and  Naturalization,  in  which  you  are  im- 
mediately interested.  It  calls  for  cooperation  upon  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent basis.  Cooperation  is  not  commanded  by  law.  I  suppose  the 
National  Government  could,  under  the  Constitution,  proceed  alone, 
and  it  might  proceed  under  the  law  as  it  now  stands  without  having 
regard  for  any  of  you.  But  that  would  be  unwise.  The  real  force 
of  the  law  is  the  will  of  the  people;  without  that  will  there  is  no 
enforcement  possible.  The  real  meaning  of  the  law  is  not  the  letter, 
but  its  spirit;  and  in  enforcing  the  law  with  which  we  are  charged 
and  in  using  the  power  which  the  National  Government  has,  we  must 
keep  in  mind  what  is  the  purpose  of  immigration,  who  is  to  be  served, 
w^ho  is  therefore  to  be  considered,  and  whom  we  must  consult  when 
we  form  our  plans  and  make  our  decisions.  I  am  frank  to  say  that, 
in  my  judgment,  the  intelligent  enforcement,  the  satisfactory  admin- 
istration of  the  law,  depends  more  upon  the  information  which  you 
gentlemen  can  give  us,  either  by  way  of  advice  or  warning,  by  telling 
us  what  you  want  done  or  what  you  do  not  want  done,  than  upon  any 
other  factor ;  and  for  that  reason  I  believe  a  meeting  of  this  kind  is 
of  first  importance. 

Now,  how  is  this  cooperation  to  be  had?  Of  course,  it  will  be 
dangerous  for  me  to  suggest  or  attempt  to  suggest  anything  by  way 
of  detail.    About  that  you  will  know  more  in  a  minute  than  I  would 


24  DISTRIBUTMOK   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

learn  in  a  month.  But,  in  a  broad  way,  questions  of  this  kind  have 
presented  themselves  to  me,  and  I  am  a  great  believer,  even  at  the  risk 
of  making  a  mistake,  in  speaking  my  mind  frankly,  because  it  may 
encourage  discussion,  and  dispassionate  discussion  always  results  in 
some  good. 

Now,  at  the  foundation  is  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Government 
to  decide  who  shall  enter  and  who  shall  be  excluded.  Not  only  are 
we  charged  with  the  decision  of  that  question,  but  we  control  natu- 
ralization itself.  So  the  whole  question  involving  entry  into  the 
country,  and  subsequently  the  dignity  of  citizenship,  is,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  lodged  in  the  Federal  Government. 

But  while  it  is  true  that  the  Federal  Government  has  that  authority, 
it  is  equally  true  that  the  States  which  you  represent  are  compelled 
to  bear  the  burdens  or  are  in  a  position  to  receive  the  benefits  of  any 
decision  which  we  may  make.  It  is  therefore  in  the  interest  of  the 
country  that  we  should  know  what  your  needs  are,  what  you  can  take 
and  what  can  not  profitably  be  given  to  you.  At  the  port  of  entry 
one  of  the  controlling  factors  in  determining  the  question  of  admis- 
sion or  exclusion  is  the  destination  of  the  alien  and  the  conditions  into 
which  he  is  likely  to  come.  Those  conditions  we  should  learn  from 
you ;  and  the  more  intelligently,  the  more  promptly  we  have  a  descrip- 
tion of  those  conditions,  the  better  will  we  be  enabled  to  make  our 
decisions  so  as  to  give  satisfaction  to  you. 

For  one,  I  am  persuaded  that  the  Federal  Government  has  so  far 
exercised  its  authority  over  the  alien  in  a  very  restricted  form.  We 
are  interested  in  the  destination.  For  instance,  we  might  admit  a  man 
who  is  going  to  Wyoming  when  we  would  reject  that  same  man  if  he 
were  going  to  New  York  City.  Why?  Because  in  one  case  he  is 
going  to  a  congested  center  in  which  we  know  he  is  not  apt  to  seek 
employment  that  is  not  already  occupied,  in  which  he  will  only  be  a 
cheap  competitor  with  existing  conditions ;  and  in  the  other  we  have 
a  right,  in  the  absence  of  advices  to  the  contrary,  to  assume  that  he 
may  become  a  creative  force.  That  is  the  difference,  and  that  same 
element  is  prevalent  in  every  decision. 

Now,  suppose  we  admit  a  man  and  his  family  destined  for  a  distant 
point.  According  to  the  present  theory  we  hold  him  in  suspense  at 
the  port  until  his  fate  is  decided ;  he  is  neither  one  thing  nor  the  other 
until  we  decide  to  let  him  in.  When  the  decision  favorable  to  him  is 
made,  he,  with  all  his  belongings,  is  dumped  on  the  pier,  and  from 
that  moment  the  Government  withdraws  all  protection  from  him. 
Up  to  that  time  it  has  exercised  the  control  of  absolute  power,  and  the 
moment  he  lands  on  the  ferryboat  or  pier  he  is  expected  to  take  care 
of  himself.  He  has  the  assistance  of  voluntary  organizations,  most 
of  which  are  of  immense  value  in  that  respect,  some  of  which  have 
been  found  to  be  objectionable,  working  in  disguise  at  the  expense  of 


CONFEREi^Cfi  OP  St  ATE   OFFICIALS.  26 

the  immigrant  instead  of  protecting  him.  But  whatever  protection 
he  does  get  is  purely  from  voluntary  organizations,  and  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  the  Government  withdraws  its  hands. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  a  matter  of  wise  policy  for  the 
Government  to  say :  "  If  we  exercise  this  arbitrary  power  of  admis- 
sion or  exclusion,  and  if  we  admit  a  man,  relying  as  one  of  the  chief 
elements  upon  the  fact  that  he  is  going  to  a  particular  place,  then 
we  must  be  interested  to  see  that  he  gets  to  that  place  " ;  not  to  pay 
his  fare,  I  do  not  mean  that,  but  to  protect  him  against  the  dangers 
that  surround  every  innocent  person  in  the  land.  That  is  true  of 
women ;  it  is  true  of  men.  We  know — and  I  do  not  wish  to  refer  to 
the  subject  at  length  here — but  we  know  that  a  great  many  immi- 
grants are,  from  the  moment  of  their  acceptance  in  this  country, 
subject  to  dangers  of  every  possible  description,  dangers  against 
which  our  own  people,  acquainted  with  the  customs  of  our  own 
country,  are  sometimes  not  able  to  protect  themselves.  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  we  ought  to  extend  our  protection  as  a  matter  of  econ- 
omy. We  do  not  want  to  land  people  in  a  helpless  condition  in  these 
States,  but  we  want  at  least  the  satisfaction  that  when  we  decide  to 
let  them  go  to  those  localities  they  shall  go,  as  far  as  possible,  in  their 
real  integrity. 

You  do  not  want  our  hospitals  filled  with  impossible  people.  I 
know,  and  you  are  no  doubt  aware,  that  the  service  is  under  serious 
criticism,  at  one  port  at  least,  for  enforcing  the  laws  too  strictly.  I 
know  it  as  well  as  you  do.  You  may  not  know,  as  I  do,  that  our 
service  is  at  the  same  time  under  very  serious  criticism — not  public — 
from  the  representatives  of  States  who  object  that  we  are  too  lenient 
in  the  enforcement  of  the  law  at  that  same  port.  The  authorities  of 
New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  other  States,  to  which,  of  course,  the 
great  bulk  of  immigration  goes,  are  making  serious  protest,  and  as 
a  rule  the  objection  is  made  to  our  unwillingness  to  deport  people 
after  they  have  entered. 

For  illustration,  a  whole  family  comes  in.  Two  years  afterwards 
a  member  of  that  family  lands  in  the  hospital.  The  case  is  one  of 
insanity.  The  doctors  certify  that,  in  their  opinion,  the  causes  for 
that  insanity  existed  at  the  time  of  entry.  I  am  asked  to  take  that 
insane  person  out  of  that  hospital  by  a  writ  of  deportation  and  send 
him  under  guard  back  to  the  foreign  country  from  which  he  came. 
Now,  gentlemen,  you  will  agree  with  mo  that  this  is  not  an  easy  task. 
A  man  will  not  sign  that  writ  until  he  is  forced  to,  will  he  ?  I  insist 
that  the  inspection  should  be  careful  at  the  port  in  the  beginning,  so 
as  to  admit  as  few  people  as  possible  who  ought  not  to  be  admitted. 
Be  as  careful  as  the  law  directs  at  the  port,  but  when  it  comes  to  the 
deportation  and  breaking  up  of  families  that  have  been  permitted 


26  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

to  enter,  upon  the  mere  certificate  of  a  medical  staff  that  in  their 
opinion  the  cause  of  this  disease  existed  in  hidden  form  at  the  time 
of  entry,  then  I  believe  that  this  writ  should  not  be  signed  unless  the 
record  leaves  no  room  for  doubt.  This  in  part  presents  your  prob- 
lem; you  are  interested  in  it.  Ultimately  some  of  that  immigration 
will  come  to  you.  When  the  Panama  Canal  is  finished,  I  imagine 
you  in  the  West  and  South  will  have  a  problem  that  you  have  not 
now.  You  may  have  more  assistance  than  you  have,  but  you  will 
also  be  more  interested  in  this  last  phase  of  the  question.  The  feature 
in  which  Mr.  Powderly  is  more  especially  interested  is  the  direction 
which  desirable  immigration  may  be  advised  to  take.  It  is  a  very 
delicate  question.  We  must  be  extremely  careful,  as  Mr.  Powderly 
knows,  not  to  direct  new  forces  to  points  at  which  they  can  only 
serve  to  break  down  established  conditions,  where  they  would  enter 
into  cheap  competition  with  existing  wages.  The  purpose  of  the 
law  is  to  prevent  that,  and  we  seek  in  every  way  to  carry  out  that 
provision. 

I  need  not  say  that  those  conditions  prevail  in  some  parts  of  the 
country  very  strongly,  while  in  other  parts  they  hardly  exist.  Intel- 
ligent reports  in  advance  about  conditions  in  different  sections  of  the 
country,  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Powderly,  will  enable  him  to  make 
some  intelligent  decision  when  opportunity  for  advice  arises. 

We  have  an  exception  to  the  rule,  which  is  that  skilled  labor  which 
can  not  be  supplied  in  this  country  may  be  admitted  even  under  con- 
tract. Instances  of  that  kind  have  been  comparatively  rare.  They 
usually  arise  where  a  new  machine  has  been  introduced  into  this 
country  and  the  labor  has  to  be  introduced  as  a  sort  of  training 
school  to  teach  the  forces  in  this  country  how  to  operate  it.  Until 
that  new  machinery — some  foreign  invention — has  been  introduced 
and  has  been  made  an  established  part  of  our  system  of  business, 
skilled  labor  is  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  operating  the  machine. 

I  have  suggested  that  that  rule  might  be  extended.  I  maintain 
that  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Powderly's  division  is  to  bring  together  the 
needs  of  the  country  and  the  supply  we  have — not  to  dump  this  new 
force  where  we  have  an  abundance,  but  to  direct  it  to  those  parts  of 
the  country  where  labor  is  needed. 

Now,  what  labor  is  needed  most?  The  farmer,  of  course.  Every- 
one says  we  have  not  enough  farmers.  Well,  I  have  suggested,  why 
could  we  not  introduce  farmers  as  skilled  laborers?  Men  who  have 
worked  as  farmers  on  the  other  side  might  be  willing  to  come  over 
if  they  had  an  assured  position  in  this  country.  But  I  have  been  ad- 
vised that  the  farmer  is  not  a  skilled  laborer ;  and  I  have  said,  if  he  is 
not  he  ought  to  be.  Perhaps  one  of  our  difficulties  has  been  that  he 
was  not.    If  I  can  get  him  over  here,  I  propose  to  have  him  come. 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  27 

He  is  the  force  that  we  really  need.  It  is  generally  admitted  that  we 
are  short  and  that  the  time  is  coming  when  there  may  be  a  question 
whether  we  are  supplying  as  much  as  we  need  for  ourselves,  while 
we  ought  to  continue  to  be  an  exporting  Nation.  Of  course,  I  bow  to 
the  decision ;  but  I  have  not  surrendered  the  contention  that  in  every 
instance  a  question  of  fact  is  presented  whether  or  not  the  particular 
farmer  is  a  skilled  laborer.  I  insist  that  if  he  knows  how  to  feed  a 
horse  and  knows  how  to  train  or  handle  a  horse  he  is,  fairly  speaking, 
just  as  much  a  skilled  laborer  as  a  man  who  knows  how  to  run  a 
weaving  machine,  because  I  know  that  a  man  that  does  not  know  how 
to  feed  a  horse  will  very  soon  kill  it,  or  at  least  render  it  useless.  A 
man  who  has  taken  care  of  a  farm  on  the  other  side — take  Germany, 
where  much  of  the  soil  is  poor  and  where  it  takes  attention  and  vig- 
ilance and  care  to  make  the  soil  produce — if  that  man  will  come  over 
here,  knowing  something  about  the  character  of  the  soil,  knowing 
what  it  is  adapted  to  yield,  knowing  when  he  ought  to  sow  and  what 
he  ought  to  sow,  knowing  when  he  ought  to  cut,  knowing  that  it  is 
not  well  to  get  a  crop  in  during  a  rain,  but  that  it  ought  to  come  in 
before  the  rain ;  knowing  how  to  make  an  acre  yield  50  per  cent  more 
than  it  yielded  before,  he  is  a  skilled  laborer,  and  we  ought  not  to  hes- 
itate to  let  him  in.  If  the  law  does  not  permit  me  to  -let  him  in,  the 
law  ought  to  be  changed.  That  man  is  just  precisely  the  man  who 
will  not  come  over  here  on  a  chance.  He  has  probably  worked  on 
poor  soil  all  his  life,  has  supported  his  family  under  untoward  con- 
ditions, and  hesitates  to  take  the  risk.  But  if  he  could  have  in  ad- 
vance the  assurance  of  occupation  on  a  farm,  knowing  just  what  it 
would  cost  him  to  get  there,  and  knowipg  the  conditions  under  which 
he  would  come,  he  would  be  willing  to  come.  In  my  judgment  he 
should  have  just  as  much  right  to  come  as  the  man  who  comes  from 
England  or  France  or  Belgium  or  Germany  to  tend  a  weaving  ma- 
chine under  a  contract. 

Those  are  the  conditions  and  the  questions  which  I  think  we  might 
consider.  For  my  part  I  am  unwilling  to  pass  over  the  main 
problem  in  a  haphazard  fashion  and  just  admit  that  the  law  embar- 
rasses me  and  does  not  enable  me  to  do  what  ought  to  be  done.  I 
think  that  here  is  an  opportunity  for  the  development  of  a  real  plan, 
and  if  you  know  what  you  want  in  your  several  States,  and  Mr. 
Powderly  has  that  information,  and  you  can  tell  us  in  advance,  or 
people  from  your  sections  can  tell  us  in  advance  what  they  do  want 
and  what  they  propose  to  do,  everything  will  be  done  to  alleviate  the 
situation  and  to  make  the  plan  just  as  workable  as  it  can  be  made. 
Instead  of  embarrassing  you  with  the  technicalities  of  the  law  and 
the  red  tape  of  government,  we  wiU  be  just  as  direct  about  it  as  we 
know  how. 


28  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

I  need  not  say  that,  broadly  speaking,  the  welfare  of  the  immigrant 
after  he  is  let  in  is  of  tremendous  importance  (not  only  to  the  people 
immediately  concerned),  because  if  he  succeeds  he  is  apt  to  make  a 
good  citizen,  and  if  he  fails  he  is  apt  to  be  a  burden. 

I  urge  upon  the  commissioners  at  the  different  ports  to  be  careful 
about  the  first  impression  they  give  the  foreigner,  whether  he  is  to 
be  let  in  or  to  be  rejected.  His  first  impression  of  this  Government, 
his  first  feeling  that  this  is  a  government  where  he  has  a  fair  chance 
and  where  he  will  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  principles  of  equity, 
is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  shaping  his  entire  attitude  toward 
this  Government.  You  know  that  is  so,  and  therefore  I  would  ad- 
vocate not  only  the  utmost  care  in  the  treatment  of  immigrants  at 
the  ports,  but  I  would  say  that  we  are  interested  in  the  value  of  the 
future  citizen,  in  his  standing,  his  attitude,  and  his  feeling  for  a  free 
government ;  and  that  we  ought,  as  an  economic  and  political  propo- 
sition to  protect  him  against  those  dangers  which  exist  in  this  coun- 
try in  spite  of  our  efforts  to  suppress  them.  Let  us  land  him  as 
promptly  as  we  can.  Send  him  as  safely  as  we  may  to  the  place 
where  he  has  the  best  chance,  because  when  he  has  the  best  chance 
you  will  have  the  best  results.  With  that  plan  in  view,  if  you  will 
consider  practical  measures  and  discuss  them  with  Mr.  Powderly, 
I  can  assure  you  that  you  will  find  me  in  full  and  absolute  sympathy 
with  any  broad  system  that  you  may  work  out. 

The  Chairman.  On  behalf  of  the  Division  of  Information,  I 
thank  you,  Mr.  Secretary,  for  coming,  and  the  body  will  no  doubt 
extend  its  thanks  to  you  afterwards. 

Mr.  Sandles.  Mr.  Chairman,  could  we  not  have  a  little  intermis- 
sion of  five  minutes  so  that  the  delegates  may  shake  hands  with  the 
Secretary  ? 

The  Chairman.  I  was  going  to  suggest  that. 

A  recess  of  five  minutes  was  thereupon  taken. 

Mr.  Sandles.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  believe  that  we  are  all  here  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  information  as  to  what  can  be  done  and  how  our 
State  departments  can  best  cooperate  with  the  Federal  department. 
Personally,  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  the  State  of  Ohio  needs  farm 
laborers.  We  obtained  that  information  officially.  Last  year  we  had 
our  township  personal-property  assessors  make  a  canvass  as  they 
traveled  over  the  townships,  and  they  asked  this  question  of  each 
farmer:  "Are  you  handicapped  by  the  lack  of  sufficient  farm  labor?" 
At  least  four-fifths  of  the  farmers  reported  "  Yes." 

Now,  that  is  a  need  in  Ohio,  and  I  suspect  the  same  thing  is  true  in 
every  State — perhaps  not  to  that  extent.  We  have  aliens  coming  to 
this  country  who  are  looking  for  a  good  and  permanent  occupation, 
and  there  are  thousands,  no  doubt,  in  the  crowded  countries  of  Eu- 


CONFERENCE  OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  29 

rope  who  would,  if  they  knew  of  the  opportunities  in  the  different 
States,  be  glad  to  come  here.  Now,  letds  find  out  how  we  can  get  those 
two  people  together — the  man  who  wants  the  labor  and  the  man  who 
wants  to  do  the  work;  and  if  there  are  any  restrictions  in  the  Federal 
statutes  that  ought  to  be  removed,  let  us  find  out  what  they  are  and 
recommend  that  they  be  so  revised  and  amended  that  we  can  get  those 
two  people  together.  I  believe  that  that  is  what  we  are  here  for,  and 
I  believe  that  nine-tenths  of  the  delegates  here  want  to  get  right 
down  to  business  and  find  out  how  we  can  get  rid  of  some  of  the  red 
tape  and  supply  this  labor  to  our  farmers. 

That  is  what  I  came  here  for.  It  is  what  the  State  of  Ohio  sent  me 
here  for — to  get  good  farm  laborers  for  Ohio.  Now,  I  do  not  know 
what  all  the  restrictions  are  that  ought  to  be  removed,  but  let  us  get 
this  information ;  let  us  make  our  recommendations  and  find  out  what 
is  the  best  thing  to  do  to  accomplish  the  purpose  that  we  want  to 
accomplish.     I  just  make  that  as  a  suggestion,  Mr.  President. 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  in  view  of  what  the  gen- 
tleman from  Ohio  has  just  said,  and  in  view  of  some  of  the  important 
points  made  by  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  I  have  to  pro- 
pose at  this  time  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution,  and  in  the 
absence  of  the  secretary  I  will  read  it,  with  your  permission : 

Be  it  resolved,  By  the  First  National  Conference  of  State,  Immigration,  Land, 
and  Labor  Commissioners,  that  there  is  need  of  a  revision  of  Federal  and  State 
enactments  in  order  to  bring  about  and  foster  concert  of  action  as  between  the 
Federal  and  State  Governments  in  the  adoption  of  practical  methods  to  induce 
able-bodied  men  to  leave  the  congested  population  centers  and  take  up  lands; 
and 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  this  national  conference  is  heartily  in  favor  of 
liberal  appropriations  by  Congress  and  by  State  legislatures  to  defray  the 
expense  of  putting  in  motion  machinery  of  office  that  will  enable  both  Federal 
and  State  immigration  officials  to  take  aggressive  action  in  efforts  to  reach 
aliens  upon  arrival,  and  foreign-born  men  residing  in  this  country  for  years,  as 
well  as  natives,  and  to  use  the  influence  of  said  Governments  in  showing  aliens 
and  others  the  manifold  advantages  enjoyed  by  tillers  of  the  soil ; 

Be  it  resolved  further,  That  this  conference  would  respectfully  recommend  to 
the  officials  of  the  Division  of  Information  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Im- 
migration the  adoption  of  plans  designed  to  enlist  the  active  cooperation  of 
consular  representatives  of  foreign  States  residing  in  the  United  States  and 
foreign-born  men  of  all  nationalities  and  the  people  generally  in  the  work 
necessary  to  be  done  to  convince  aliens  and  others  that  it  is  unquestionably 
to  their  interest  to  leave  the  cities  and  settle  upon  the  lauds. 

I  hope  I  may  hear  a  second. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  listened  very  attentively  to  that, 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  strikes  about  the  keynote.  I  therefore  second 
the  motion. 

The  CuAii^MAN.  What  is  your  pleasure? 


30  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

Mr.  South.  Mr.  Chairman,  it  seems  to  me  that  that  is  rather  long 
to  swallow  at  one  dose.  There  is  quite  a  sentiment  throughout  this 
country  that  inducing  further  immigration  is  a  bad  thing  for  the 
country,  and  I  am  one  of  those  people  who  entertain  that  belief.  At 
any  rate,  unless  we  have  a  better  way  of  straining  it  and  sifting  it 
than  has  been  practiced  in  this  country,  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  bad 
thing  for  the  country.  There  is  a  reference  in  the  tail  end  of  the 
resolution,  as  I  caught  it,  about  cooperating  with  our  consuls  in 
foreign  countries 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  No,  no. 

Mr.  South.  As  I  say,  it  is  a  little  long  to  swallow  at  one  reading. 

The  Chairman.  Perhaps  Mr.  Haynes  will  give  an  explanation  of 
those  points. 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  I  want  to  say  for  the  benefit  of  the 
gentleman  from  Arkansas  that  there  is  absolutely  no  idea  in  this 
resolution  that  relates  to  inducing  foreigners  to  emigrate  to  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  South.  Will  the  gentleman  read  that  clause  where  consuls  are, 
referred  to? 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska  (reading) : 

Be  it  resolved  further.  That  this  conference  would  respectfully  recommend  to 
the  officials  of  the  Division  of  Information  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Im- 
migration the  adoption  of  plans  designed  to  enlist  the  active  cooperation  of 
consular  representatives  of  foreign  States  residing  in  the  United  States  and 
foreign-born  men  of  all  nationalities  and  the  people  generally  in  the  work 
necessary  to  be  done  to  convince  aliens  and  others  that  it  is  unquestionably  to 
their  interest  to  leave  the  cities  and  settle  upon  the  lands. 

I  may  be  a  little  premature  in  some  of  this,  but  it  relates  to  an  ad- 
dress that  I  shall  hope  to  be  able  to  deliver  a  little  later  on  the  subject. 

Mr.  Denechaud.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  suggest  that  possibly  it 
would  be  to  the  better  advantage  of  this  conference  that  the  resolu- 
tions be  received  at  this  time  and  not  acted  on  until  we  have  heard 
from  other  gentlemen  present.  There  may  be  other  resolutions  in- 
troduced, and  we  can  then  adopt  all  the  resolutions  at  one  time.  It 
seems  to  me  that  we  would  serve  a  better  purpose  if  we  adopted  the 
resolutions  at  a  later  hour  to-day  or  to-morrow.  I  think  that  is  a 
better  solution  of  the  resolution  question. 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  move  that  a  com- 
mittee of  five  be  appointed  as  a  resolution  committee,  to  which  all 
resolutions  might  be  referred,  so  that  they  could  be  unified  and  pre- 
sented at  a  later  time  for  discussion. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

The  Chairman.  It  will  be  understood,  then,  that  Mr.  Haynes's 
motion,  which  was  seconded,  shall  stand  over  until  this  committee 
makes  its  report ;  that  is,  if  this  motion  is  passed. 


CONFEEENCE    OF   STATE    OFFICIALS.  31 

The  question  was  taken  and  the  motion  was  carried. 

The  Chairman.  How  shall  that  committee  be  appointed?  [Cries 
of  "  By  the  Chair."]  The  Chair  will  appoint  on  that  committee  Miss 
Kellor ;  Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska ;  Mr.  Cunningham,  of  Texas ;  Mr. 
Nelson,  of  Minnesota ;  and  Mr.  Trenor,  of  Hawaii. 

It  is  now  9  minutes  of  12,  and  before  the  hour  of  adjournment 
comes  you  should  fix  the  time  when  you  will  reassemble  when  you  do 
adjourn. 

Mr.  Harris.  Have  we  heard  from  the  President  yet? 

The  Chairman.  Not  yet. 

Mr.  McGrew.  I  am  ready  to  report.  The  Secretary  to  the  Presi- 
dent has  arranged  for  this  gathering  to  pay  its  respects  to  the  Presi- 
dent in  the  East  Room  of  the  White  House  at  2.30  o'clock  to-morrow 
(Friday). 

On  motion,  duly  seconded  and  carried,  the  conference  thereupon 
took  a  recess  until  2  o'clock  p.  m. 


SECOND  SESSION. 
AFTERNOON  OF  THURSDAY.  NOVEMBER  16,   1911. 

The  conference  reassembled  at  2  o'clock  p.  m. 

Mr.  Trenor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  take  up  a  very  few 
moments  of  the  attention  of  the  conference  in  the  reading  of  a  salu- 
tation from  the  far-off  Territory  of  Hawaii  to  this  conference.  It  is 
very  brief. 

On  behalf  of  the  department  of  immigration,  labor,  and  statistics  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Hawaii,  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  I  beg  to  tender  its  thanks 
for  the  invitation  extended  to  attend  this  conference. 

To  those  who  have  made  a  study  of  our  immigration  problem,  the  question 
of  the  intelligent  distribution  of  those  who  have  sought  our  shores  has  been 
one  of  constant  Interest  and  concern.  We  are,  I  think,  all  agreed  that  conges- 
tion in  our  urban  centers  is  bad  alike  for  the  immigrant  and  for  the  already 
overcrowded  communities. 

There  can  be  no  greater  boon  than  the  one  that  will  point  the  way  to  the 
overcoming  of  this  conceded  evil.  The  Division  of  Information  of  the  Bureau 
of  Immigration  and  Naturalization  seems  admirably  adapted  for  this  purpose, 
and  I  look  with  confidence  for  such  results  from  this  conference  as  shall  blaze 
the  path  to  the  desired  goal. 

How  widespread  the  interest  was  in  this  question,  was  manifested  in  the 
numerous  replies  received  by  me  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  immigration 
of  the  national  board  of  trade  in  1907,  to  an  inquiry  on  this  very  subject.  The 
answers — there  were  93  or  94  of  them — were  embodied  in  a  pamphlet  printed  by 
the  Committee  on  Immigration  and  Naturalization  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  March,  1910.  The  few  remaining  copies  of  this  document  in  my  posses- 
sion are  at  the  disposal  of  such  delegates  as  may  wish  to  read  it. 

Due  mainly  to  what  may  be  termed  its  geographical  isolation,  the  labor 
problem  has  always  been  one  of  peculiar  difficulty  for  the  Territory  of  Hawaii. 
Despite  this,  no  efforts  are  being  spared  to  secure  its  much-needed  supply.  This 
is  particularly  true  in  connection  with  Caucassian  labor,  which,  at  great  expense, 
has  been  recruited  abroad  and  brought  direct  to  the  Territory. 

Speaking  on  this  subject,  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labor,  in  his 
Fourth  Report  on  Hawaii  (Bulletin  No.  94  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  of  the  De- 
partment of  Commerce  and  Labor,  May,  1911),  says:  "Meantime  a  bona  fide 
effort  is  being  made  by  the  Territorial  government,  backed  by  the  large  employ- 
ing interests,  to  settle  a  larger  proportion  of  Caucasian  workers  and  settlers  in 
Hawaii.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  large  industry  on  the  mainland  lias  in  the  past 
been  willing  to  disregard  the  economic  demand  for  cheap  labor  in  considera- 
tion of  what  are  at  least  partly  civic  motives  in  securing  more  costly  labor,  to 
the  same  extent  as  have  the  Hawaiian  planters.  They  are  willing,  without  reserve, 
to  employ  all  the  Caucasian  workers  the  Government  can  bring  to  the  islands 
nt  a  wage  one-third  larger  than  they  pay  for  nearly  as  efficient  l^bor  brought 
S3 


CONFEEENCE   OF   STATE  ^P'FICIALS.  33 

from  Asia."  A  perusal  of  this  very  valuable  report  of  the  Cgminissioner  of 
Labor  will  give  in  detail  the  results  of  a  careful  and  thorough  investigation 
of  the  whole  subject,  revealing  as  it  does  the  persistent  efforts  of  the  Territory 
to  successfully  solve  one  of  its  most  serious  problems. 

Dangers  of  desertion  in  transcontinental  shipment  prior  to  embarkation  and 
other  causes  have  hitherto  made  efforts  to  secure  suitable  labor  in  the  United 
States  impracticable.  The  prospective  opening  of 'the  Panama  Canal,  with  the 
possibility  of  direct  water  communication  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  may 
open  up  an  avenue  of  supply  from  that  section  of  which  the  Territory  will  be 
glad  to  avail  itself. 

I  need  hardly  assure  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  the  proceedings  of  this  confer- 
ence will  be  followed  with  deep  and  sympathetic  interest  by  the  Territorial 
Department,  which  at  all  times  will  be  most  happy  to  contribute  as  far  as  may 
lie  in  its  power  to  the  success  of  an  undertaking  in  which  the  well-wishers  of 
our  country  are  so  vitally  concerned. 

The  Chairman.  Miss  Kellor  asks  that  the  announcement  be  made 
that  the  resolutions  committee  will  be  glad  to  receive  any  written 
suggestions  from  the  members  of  the  conference.  So  the  members 
will  be  governed  accordingly. 

Mr.  Trenor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  ask  when  that  resolu- 
tions committee  will  meet  ? 

The  Chairman.  Miss  Kellor,  the  chairman,  is  not  here.  Mr. 
Haynes,  the  next  on  the  list,  I  believe,  is  present.  Mr.  Nelson  is  here 
and  Mr.  Cunningham  is  here.  Now,  in  order  that  the  committtee 
may  have  enough  to  work  on,  there  should  be  some  further  discussion 
and  other  resolutions.  I  hope  that  every  man  who  is  here,  even 
though  he  occupies  but  a  minute  and  a  half,  will  express  his  views 
candidly  and  as  concisely  as  he  can,  because  we  want  to  hear  from 
everyone  of  you.  This  is  not  a  place  where  anybody  is  going  to  be 
choked  off  or  smothered.    We  want  to  know  what  the  country  thinks. 

Mr.  Denechaud.  Mr.  Chairman,  when  I  took  charge  of  the  posi- 
tion I  now  occupy — secretary  of  the  division  of  immigration  of  the 
State  of  Louisiana — I  found  that  the  State  of  Louisiana  and  the 
adjacent  States  in  the  South  had  in  the  past  received  a  very  small 
number  of  immigrants.  I  thought  it  my  business,  if  possible,  to  find 
out  why  that  condition  had  prevailed.  I  have  embodied  those  reasons 
in  a  little  paper  that  I  am  going  to  read,  but  I  want  to  say  that  in  a 
large  measure  those  causes  which  pre  stalled  in  the  past  do  not  prevail 
at  present. 

In  discussing  the  subject,  "The  best  means  of  establishing  cooperation  be- 
tween the  Federal  Government,  through  the  Division  of  Information  of  the 
Commerce  and  Labor  Department  and  the  other  residents  of  the  United  States," 
I  will  speak  on  conditions  as  I  find  them  in  my  State,  Louisiana,  and  I  believe 
that  my  observations  will  apply  in  a  general  way  to  the  other  States  of  the 
South. 

We  need  immigration  capable  of  developing  the  millions  of  acres  of  our 
idle  land — lands  whose  fertility  is  not  surpassed  by  any  in  the  world.  In  my 
State  alone  we  have  over  22,000,000  acres  of  idle  lands;  barely  one-fifth  of  our 
23508°— 12 3 


34  DISTRIBUTION    OF   ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

acreage  is  now  being  utilized.  On  tliis  land  can  be  grown  a  large  variety  of 
profitable  crops,  the  cultivation  of  which  will  make  the  farmer  independently 
rich  within  a  few  years.  These  lands  are  still  cheap.  Up  to  the  present  time 
we  have  failed  to  attract  this  needed  immigration.  The  reasons  for  this  failure 
are  many. 

The  prevailing  idea  that  the  South  was  entirely  given  up  to  negro  labor  has 
been  one  of  the  main  reasons.  However,  this  condition  is  now  passing  fast 
Another  reason  is  that  the  South  has  been  looked  upon  as  solely  a  cotton- 
growing  section.  People  generally  of  other  parts  of  the  world  know  but  little 
or  nothing  of  this  particular  crop;  now,  diversified  farming  has  taken  a  held 
in  the  South,  and  its  lands  should  be  peopled  by  a  class  of  white  farmers  who 
can  properly  handle  these  new  crops.  Another  great  reason  why  the  South 
has  failed  to  get  its  quota  of  immigration  is  because  she  has  been  backward  in 
making  known  her  great  and  wonderful  advantages. 

Immigration,  as  we  all  know,  has  been  the  keynote  of  western  progress 
and  the  backbone  of  all  the  development  in  that  portion  of  the  country.  It 
has  made  these  States  the  granaries  of  the  world.  The  reasons  for  this  tre- 
mendous influx  to  and  remarkable  growth  of  the  Western  States  were  princi- 
pally low-priced  lands,  equal  chances  for  all,  great  forests  with  a  wealth  of 
timber  and  minerals,  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  homestead  law,  under  which 
any  citizen  or  person  on  declaring  his  intention  of  becoming  such  could  become 
the  possessor  of  80  to  160  acres  of  land  by  occupation  and  cultivation  upon  the 
payment  of  a  nominal  fee.  We  of  the  South  have  all  these  advantages  to  offer 
the  immigrant  and  many  more  besides.  Our  lands  are  most  fertile  and  cheap 
and  our  climate  mild.  We  need  the  population  to  cultivate  these  idle  millions 
of  acres  of  land  to  bring  them  into  usefulness. 

I  find  another  reason  which  has  operated  against  the  South  in  the  way  of 
securing  the  better  class  of  immigrants,  and  that  is  the  commissary-store  sys- 
tem. Tliis  plan  of  dealing  with  the  plantation  or  farm  labor  is  utterly  unsat- 
isfactory and  has  gone  very  much  against  obtaining  and  retaining  good  im- 
migration in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  it  is  considered  by  many  to  be  very  lit- 
tle less  than  a  system  of  peonage.  Another  reason  is  that  wages  paid  have  not 
been  equal  to  wages  in  the  North  and  West,  and  they  fluctuate  considerably 
according  to  season,  whether  crops  are  being  gathered  or  not.  This  objection, 
however,  is  offset  by  the  fact  that  our  climate  is  less  rigorous  than  in  the 
North  and  West,  and  the  people  living  there  require  less  clothing  and  very 
little  fuel,  but  the  immigrant  is  not  aware  of  this  fact  until  it  is  explained 
to  him  or  he  finds  it  out  by  liis  own  experience. 

Another  reason  why  the  South  has  not  obtained  its  share  of  foreign  immi- 
gration is  that  there  is  now  and  has  been  for  many  years  past  a  close  under- 
standing between  the  big  steamship  companies  and  the  transcontinental  rail- 
roads. The  steamship  companies,  by  entering  the  port  of  New  York,  concen- 
trate their  business  to  this  one  port,  making  it  more  economical  for  them  to 
handle  it,  and  the  transcontinental  railroads  by  getting  this  vast  traffic,  prac- 
tically a  million  people  a  year,  distribute  it  over  their  various  branch  lines  and 
naturally  derive  more  benefit  therefrom.  To  bring  about  a  revision  of  this 
matter  there  must  be  a  great  distribution  of  ships,  whether  they  land  at 
New  Orleans,  Galveston,  Charleston,  or  some  other  place  where  the  immigrant 
can  be  brought  in  closer  proximity  to  the  land  which  he  is  expected  to  purchase 
and  to  cultivate. 

To  bring  about  a  closer  cooperation  with  the  Federal  Government  through 
the  Bureau  of  Immigration,  the  South  should  stand  ready  to  correct  such  faults 
as  may  have  in  the  past  tended  to  retard  additional  population  to  her  section. 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  35 

to  properly  advertise  the  great  wealth  to  be  found  within  her  borders,  her 
climate  and  other  inducements  for  the  land  seeker,  and  to  form  a  definite 
immigrant  policy  through  the  creation  of  immigration  bureaus  which  would  act 
in  close  cooperation  with  the  Federal  Division  of  Information  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  questions  of  labor  supply  and  demand  and  the  colonization  of 
the  vacant  land.  We  should  also  take  pains  to  inform  the  immigrant  that 
he  is  welcome  in  the  South,  and  when  he  comes  we  should  see  that  he  is 
accorded  fair  treatment.  The  State  immigration  oflicials  should  make  it  their 
business  to  protect  in  everj-  way  the  alien  from  the  land  shark,  peonage,  and 
other  similar  abuse.  However,  we  must  keep  in  mind,  if  we  desire  to  make  any 
great  strides  in  the  immigration  movement  for  the  South,  to  make  our  ad- 
vantages of  real  value,  there  must  be  a  better  distribution  of  ships  bringing 
innnigraiits  to  the  United  States.  This  section  of  the  country  will  not  get  full 
returns  from  its  efforts,  even  through  the  Division  of  Information,  unless  the 
immigrant  arrives  nearer  its  doors,  thus  avoiding  much  unnecessary  delay,  cor- 
respondence, and  expense. 

The  Federal  Government  is  now  erecting  fine  new  immigration  stations  at 
the  ports  of  New  Orleans  and  Galveston,  and  soon  these  ports  will  be  as  well 
equipped  as  New  York  or  any  other  port  of  the  country  to  properly  handle  the 
incoming  stranger  in  large  numbers 

If  the  railroads  operating  though  the  South  could  be  induced  to  .ioin  in 
the  campaign  to  induce  the  steamship  companies  to  patronize  the  Gulf  and 
South  Atlantic  ports  in  carrying  on  their  immigration  business,  much  good 
could  be  accomplished.  These  roads  would  be  immediate  beneficiaries  by  the 
coming  of  the  immigrant  ships  to  the  southern  ports.  We  must  also  interest  the 
landowner  in  this  work,  for  to  him  will  also  come  the  benefit  of  this  movement. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  s  y  that  cooperation  of  the  Southern  States  with  the 
Federal  Government,  through  the  Division  of  Information,  has  been  too  long 
delayed.  We  need  the  immigi-ant  in  the  South,  for  without  him  our  develop- 
ment will  be  slow.     We  must  go  after  the  man  who  tills  the  soil. 

Mr.  Nugent.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  as  immigration  com- 
missioner of  West  Virginia  I  have  been  compelled  to  look  at  it  on 
the  other  side.  In  fact,  at  times  and  very  often  we  have  more  immi- 
grants than  we  can  handle,  more  thrn  are  beneficial,  and  they  are  the 
means  of  bringing  worse  conditions  than  existed  prior  to  their 
coming. 

I  am  a  coal  miner,  have  been  a  coal  miner  all  my  life,  and  into  our 
State  last  year,  by  four  companies,  were  brought  11,600  foreigners, 
all  non-English  speaking  foreigners,  and  distributed  among  the  mines 
throughout  our  State.  In  carefully  going  over  the  matter  I  recog- 
nized the  wisdom  of  this  call  and  told  our  governor  of  the  necessity 
for  cooperation  of  the  State  with  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and 
Naturalization  to  prevent  individuals  using  one  to  defeat  the  other — 
not  only,  as  the  Secretary  said  this  morning,  by  landing  them  in  New 
York,  but  by  cooperation  with  the  Division  of  Information,  as  they 
declare  their  intention  of  going  to  a  certain  point,  that  the  Govern- 
ment see  that  they  buy  their  tickets  and  reach  their  destination. 

To  illustrate:  Last  year  six  Englishmen,  coal  miners,  came  to  our 
shores.  On  arriving  they  were  asked  the  question  as  to  whether  they 
had  work.     They  said  yes,  undoubtedly  they  had  work — had  a  good 


36  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

job  just  as  soon  as  they  got  to  Macdonald.  They  were  held  for  an 
investigation,  and  it  was  necessary — the  information  came  from 
West  Virginia — to  show  that  these  men  were  only  in  communication 
with  their  friends  located  at  the  mining  town  and  the  company  knew 
nothing  about  the  matter;  but  the  friends,  realizing  that  there  was 
work  there  for  good  practical  miners,  had  written  them  that  if  they 
came  they  could  get  work. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  1,200  Bulgarians 
landed.  They  were  passed  from  the  dock  to  a  train  and  the  coaches 
locked.  They  were  all  billed  and  ticketed  to  Rock,  W.  Va.  An  in- 
vestigation developed  that  Rock,  W.  Va.,  was  a  country  post  office. 
There  was  not  a  man  employed  anywhere  around  it  for  miles.  Fur- 
ther investigation  showed  the  fact  that  the  1,200  Bulgarians,  having 
been  furnished  their  tickets  and  shipped  direct  to  Rock,  W.  Va.,  were 
distributed  among  the  mines  along  the  Norfolk  &  Western  Railroad. 

Therefore  we  recognized  the  necessity  of  keeping  in  touch  with  the 
Division  of  Information,  whereby  we  can  make  known  to  them  our 
wants,  our  crowded  conditions,  and  ask  their  cooperation  in  prevent- 
ing any  person  using  immigrants  who  come  to  our  shores  for  the 
purpose  of  pulling  down  the  American  workman. 

In  connection  with  the  "  back  to  the  farm  "  movement,  I  brought 
that  matter  up  with  our  governor.  Our  State  is  not  an  agricultural 
State;  it  is  mountainous;  but  we  have  1,000,000  acres  of  idle  land 
that  could  be  disposed  of  at  a  small  price  and  made  as  valuable 
as  the  finest  farms  in  the  West  to  a  certain  class,  namely,  for  market 
gardening.  In  other  words,  we  have  60,000  coal  miners  scattered 
through  three  valleys  of  our  State.  None  of  them  raises  anything. 
We  have  tillable  soil  there — small  farms  of  5,  10,  or  15  acres — which 
could  be  cultivated  and  made  profitable  by  putting  men  onto  that  soil. 

Our  governor  suggested  this  in  connection  with  getting  men  back 
to  the  farms:  That  it  was  not  just  getting  a  man  to  the  place  and 
putting  him  off  and  saying,  "  There  is  a  farm  for  you  to  live  on  " ; 
that  the  individual  coming  to  our  country,  or  the  man  in  our  country 
who  has  a  desire  to  go  back  to  the  farm,  should  get  the  assistance  of 
the  State  and  its  protection  for  at  least  the  first  year. 

To  illustrate,  let  me  cite  my  own  case:  I  bought  a  farm  in  1879 
when  a  boy.  I  had  been  taught  that  there  was  nobody  as  free  as  the 
man  who  tilled  the  soil ;  that  he  and  he  alone  was  the  man  who  said 
he  could  do  just  as  he  pleased.  I  went  to  Texas.  It  took  me  two 
Aveeks  to  reach  there  and  three  weeks  to  come  back,  and  I  got  back 
where  ?  To  the  mines  in  West  Virginia,  because  it  was  ready  money, 
and  I  needed  the  ready  money  to  maintain  myself. 

Now,  what  should  the  States  provide  for  these  men?  Loans,  for 
instance,  at  not  over  2  per  cent,  for  good  American  citizens  who  want 
to  go  back  to  the  land.    This  protection  given  to  the  individual  who 


CONFERENCE   OP   STATE   OFFICIALS.  87 

has  a  knowledge  of  farming  but  has  not  the  means,  this  assistance 
given  him  to  provide  for  himself  and  his  family  during  the  first  year 
until  he  can  maintain  himself  and  his  family,  would,  I  guarantee 
to  you  men  in  States  that  have  large  tracts  to  dispose  of,  bring 
you  good,  valuable  citizens  that  are  already  in  our  country. 

In  connection  with  the  other  matter,  all  I  desire  to  say  is  this,  as 
a  working  man:  A  large  majority — nine-tenths — in  fact,  nearly  all 
the  men  who  come  to  our  shores  come  as  unskilled  laborers;  and 
unfortunately,  while  we  used  to  claim  that  coal  mining  was  a  trade, 
that  it  required  skill,  it  took  a  large  number  of  explosions  and  a 
large  number  of  lives  sacrificed  to  convince  the  employers  of  our 
country  that  there  was  skill  in  mining  coal,  and  to  induce  them  to 
protect  both  the  individual  life  and  the  companies'  property.  Un- 
fortunately, a  large  number  of  these  men  are  shipped  direct  to  our 
shores  and  as  they  are  dumped  on  the  pier  by  our  Government  are 
taken  up  by  the  labor  agencies  and  shipped  to  places,  not  where  they 
do  the  most  good  but  where  they  do  the  most  harm.  We  believe  in 
preventing  that.  Do  no  injury  to  any  person,  but  have  the  Govern- 
ment go  a  little  further;  see  that  the  immigrant  is  carried  to  his 
destination  at  the  cheapest  rate  possible,  and  see  that  the  wages  and 
conditions  guaranteed  to  him  and  reported  to  your  bureau  are  hon- 
estly and  fairly  carried  out.  I  believe  this  would  prevent  a  great 
deal  of  injury  to  our  people  who  are  here  and  would  be  of  great 
benefit  to  the  immigrants  and  undoubtedly  beneficial  to  every  State, 
because  any  man  who  is  employed  in  any  State  will  not  only  benefit 
himself  but  benefit  every  person  who  resides  in  the  State. 

Another  thing,  before  I  sit  down,  is  this:  That  in  order  to  bring 
about  a  perfect  harmony  with  the  national  bureau  there  should  be  in 
every  State  an  organization,  both  of  the  labor  department  and  the 
agricultural  department,  and  in  connection  with  that  the  immigration 
department,  that  will  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  Division  of  Infor- 
mation at  the  National  Capital,  to  do  what?  To  guarantee  all  a 
fair  and  a  square  deal,  to  prevent  overcrowding,  and  to  provide  for 
l^roper  distribution.  That  is  what  we  ask,  and  I  believe  that  will 
give  us  what  we  desire — to  get  all  men  who  can  work,  and  who  are 
willing  to  work,  to  those  places  where  we  have  the  opportunities 
to  give  them  work.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Trappe.  Mr.  Chtiirman  and  gentlemen  of  the  convention,  I 
represent  the  bureau  of  labor  of  Maryland,  which  is  very  well  known 
to  Mr.  Powderly,  who,  by  the  way,  is  a  true,  good  Irishman  and  a 
true  Republican,  while  I  was  born  in  Germany  and  am  a  Democrat. 
[Applause  and  laughter.] 

In  our  speeches  this  morning,  gentlemen,  I  have  noticed  a  kind 
of  trend  toward  paternal  care  and  a  disposition  on  the  j^art  of  the 
National  Government  to  do  something  to  relieve  the  different  situa- 


38  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS   AND  OTHERS. 

tions  in  the  different  States.     I  have  prepared  a  few  lines,  which  I 
want  to  read  to  you,  because  I  am  not  a  speech  maker. 

A  coDsnItation  of  State  officials  with  the  authorities  of  the  United  States  for 
the  purpose  of  devising  ways  and  means  for  the  betterment  of  an  undesirable 
condition  in  certain  big  ^cities  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  welfare  and  future 
prosperity  of  this  country,  and  especially  to  the  farming  communities. 

During  several  recent  trips  to  Europe  and  to  the  Middle  West  of  our  own 
country  I  have  made  a  comparative  study  of  the  labor  question  and  the  indus- 
trial condition  and  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  high  time  for  the 
United  States  to  pay  more  attention  to  the  toiling  men  and  women  than  to  look 
out  for  the  assistance  of  corporate  interests,  which  can  and  which  do  .look  out 
for  themselves. 

If  you  glance  over  the  figures  in  the  reports  of  the  Commissioner  General  of 
Immigration  you  will  find  that  the  industrious  Anglo-Saxon,  who  helped  to 
build  up  our  great  country,  has  been  supplanted  by  the  overflow  of  population 
from  countries  in  which  the  Slavic  races  predominnte.  While  I  admit  that 
the  gates  of  the  United  States  should  always  be  open  to  the  oppressed,  yet  we 
have  reached  a  point  in  the  history  of  our  national  life  where  we  are  compelled 
to  take  steps  for  the  protection  of  our  citizens,  and  therefore  should  be  pre- 
pared to  draw  a  line  somewhere. 

I  was  ordered  by  my  own  State  to  go  to  Europe  and  find  the  reason  why  we 
can  not  get  good  farm  labor  or  families  to  occupy  our  farms,  lying  idle  since 
the  emancipation  of  the  negroes  in  1865. 

Now,  what  did  I  find?  The  excellent  advance  of  education  in  all  European 
States,  supported  by  wise  legislation  of  the  home  Government,  has  produced  a 
tremendous  development  of  industrial  enterprises  and  a  high  class  of  intensive 
farming.  The  question  of  supply  and  demand  is  carefully  considered  and  regu- 
lated by  the  administration,  and  the  subsequent  legislation  is  in  conformity 
with  the  same.  In  the  northern  States  of  Europe  I  found  that  farm  labor  is 
at  a  premium,  and  as  scarce  as  in  our  own  country.  The  reason  for  this  I 
found  in  the  transportation  problem.  In  Germany  all  railroads  are  owned  by 
the  Government,  and  the  rates  are  so  cheap  that  all  the  male  population  work 
In  the  manufacturing  establishments  of  the  near-by  towns.  Most  of  the  farm 
work  is  done  by  the  female  population  in  the  rural  districts.  Other  factors  are 
good  salaries,  good  roads,  and  modern  transportation  vehicles,  as  bicycles,  etc. 

Somebody  said  this  morning  that  the  wages  for  farm  hands  in  his 
State  were  $2  a  day.  My  own  experience  is  that  a  man  who  gets 
$9  a  week  thinks  he  is  getting  a  good  salary ;  but  I  found  in  London, 
Paris,  and  Berlin  that  a  man  would  not  work  for  less  than  $10  a 
week,  with  better  conditions  surrounding  him  than  here. 

In  looking  deeper  into  the  problem  of  government  ownership  of  railroads  I 
realized  that  it  is  the  greatest  revenue  source  for  the  German  Government.  In 
our  own  country  it  is  argued  that  a  government  by  parties  could  not  do  the 
same  thing.  That  is  preposterous,  because  our  civil-service  system  as  applied 
to  the  Post  Office  Department  would  guard  against  political  abuse. 

But  the  greatest  obstacle  against  my  attempt  to  induce  good  people  to  come 
to  the  State  of  Maryland  lay  in  the  paternal  care  of  European  Governments. 
In  Germany  the  pension  system  has  worked  wonders.  The  old-age  pension, 
though  very  small,  has  removed  all  the  poor  houses. 

There  are  no  poorhouses  in  Germany.  A  day  laborer  who  gets  to 
be  55  or  60  years  old  goes  to  his  Government,  or  to  the  next  station, 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  89 

and  says :  "  I  am  too  old ;  I  have  no  relatives ;  I  can  not  work  any 
more."  The  Government  sends  a  physician,  and  his  case  is  investi- 
gated. If  the  physician  decides  that  the  man  is  unable  to  work,  the 
Government  says :  "  You  will  receive  so  much  pension."  The  pen- 
sion is  hardly  enough  to  keep  body  and  soul  together,  but  by  bringing 
that  money  home  to  his  own  people  and  adding  it  to  the  little  income 
they  have  they  manage  to  keep  house  and  keep  it  well. 

The  accident  insurance  by  the  Government  has  given  security  to  the  em- 
ployees in  the  industrial  concerns,  and  the  comparatively  high  salaries  of  the 
employees,  with  the  assurance  of  pension  in  the  days  of  decline,  have  given 
a  stimulus  to  everything.  And  it  is  in  this  particular  that  our  rich  country 
is  lacliing.  Even  the  new  United  Republic  of  China  has  laid  a  foundation  for 
its  constitution  on  the  protection  and  security  of  the  income  of  the  humblest 
coolie  and  day  laborer. 

I  will  not  go  any  further  into  other  details,  but  would  make  one  more  point, 
and  that  is  the  burning  domestic  question.  Whenever  a  business  man  has  a 
good  mechanic  he  is  apt  to  give  him  high  consideration,  and  when  a  family 
has  a  good  useful  house  girl  she  should  receive  better  treatment  than  a  colored 
girl  in  the  antebellum  days.  Such  a  girl  is  as  much  a  human  being  as  any 
member  of  the  family.  Whenever  I  tried  to  secure  domestic  help  in  Europe 
I  was  ridiculed,  because  it  is  linown  over  there  that  here  a  girl  has  to  be  at 
work  every  day  from  5  a.  m.  -to  11  p.  m.,  and  on  Sunday,  when  she  has  time, 
everything  for  recreation  of  life  is  at  a  standstill.  I  am  not  criticizing  our 
Puritan  Sunday,  but  crime  would  be  less  and  the  human  race  would  be  better 
off  if  we  had  made  the  same  liberal  progress  on  the  Sabbath  question  as  in 
other  directions  of  modern  life.  Of  course,  I  know  that  this  is  purely  a  matter 
for  the  individual  States. 

We  are  compelled  by  our  State  laws  to  assist  the  farmers  of  Maryland  in 
procuring  sufficient  Irbor,  and  I  have  had  some  experience  in  this  line  of  work. 
I  must  say,  however,  that  such  work  can  and  rightly  should  be  carried  on  by 
the  Division  of  Information  in  the  United  States  Department  of  Commerce 
and  Labor.  And  the  work  should  receive  at  least  as  much  attention  as  the  work 
in  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry. 

I  now  wii^h  to  make  some  suggestions  which  I  think  should  receive  the  ap- 
proval of  some  of  you  gentlemen. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Congress  should  authorize  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  appoint  a  paid  commission  of  five  mem.hers  to  draft  a  law  for  the 
improveiiieut  of  the  condition  of  the  working  classes  or  masses,  with  due  re- 
gard to  the  congestion  of  people  in  large  cities,  and  for  this  purpose  take  testi- 
mony in  each  State  of  the  Union  in  order  to  satisfy  the  conditions  in  all 
sections  of  this  country.  The  report  and  recommendations  should  be  printed 
and  submitted  to  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

Secondly,  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  I^abor  should  authorize  the 
Division  of  Information  to  open  an  office  in  each  city  of  over  10,000  inhabitants, 
where  employer  and  employee  could  apply  for  information,  such  as  was  estab- 
lished some  years  ago  in  Baltimore.  Such  offices  should  be  located  in  private 
quarters  in  the  business  section  and  not  in  an  office  building  of  the  United 
States,  as  persons  of  both  classes  are  averse  to  going  into  such  buildings,  and, 
furthermore,  the  applicants  for  work  should  not  interfere  with  other  public 
business. 


40  DISTRIBUTION    OF    ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

We  had  that  office  in  the  customhouse  building  in  Baltimore,  and 
when  a  farmer  came  along  and  saw  those  fine  marble  pillars  he 
hesitated  to  go  in  [laughter]  ;  and  when,  driven  by  hunger  and  ex- 
posure to  cold  weather,  some  of  these  men  did  pass  those  fine  marble 
pillars,  it  interfered,  of  course,  with  the  public  business.  The  re- 
sult was  that  that  office  was  abolished,  because  it  was  opened  in  a 
United  States  building.     [Reading:] 

There  should  be  snflacient  rooms  for  all  classes  of  people,  male  and  female. 

We  often  have  people  come  in  who  have  no  homes  and  don't  know 
where  to  stop.  We  can  keep  them  there  for  an  hour  or  two,  three 
hours,  or  a  day,  and  when  the  man  comes  for  them  he  can  take  them 
away. 

The  details  as  well  as  the  rules  and  regulations  for  such  offices  should  be 
worked  out  by  an  experienced  man  in  the  department.  All  such  offices  should 
keep  on  file  descriptions  of  land  and  opportunities  in  the  different  Srates  where 
State  officers  are  willing  and  ready  to  furnish  such  information  for  landseekers 
free  of  charge. 

That  work  could  be  carried  on  in  conjunction  with  some  other 
offices. 

We  have  everything  ready  at  a  moment's  notice,  and,  if  any  of  you  gentlemen 
wish  a  good  climate,  a  fine  farm,  the  best  social  conditions,  near-by  markets, 
and  the  nearest  approach  to  the  Garden  of  Eden,  please  come  to  Maryland. 

Those,  Mr.  Chairman,  are  my  recommendations.  [Applause.]  If 
any  gentleman  desires  to  ask  me  any  questions  about  Germany,  about 
Holland,  or  about  European  conditions  generally,  I  am  ready  to 
answer ;  also  about  the  conditions  in  Maryland. 

Mr.  Tkenor.  I  wish  you  would  send  some  of  those  to  help  us  along 
in  our  work  in  New  York  State. 

Mr.  Kracke.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  ask  the  gentleman 
what  he  means  about  the  Government  regulation  of  supply  and 
demand. 

Mr.  Trappe.  Suppose  the  bureau  of  information  has  an  office  in 
the  city  of  New  York  and  has  on  its  list,  say,  10,000  people.  Sup- 
pose the  office  in  Idaho  or  Kansas  or  Nebraska  needs  10,000  men. 
They  could  apply  to  the  New  York  office  or  to  the  Washington  office 
and  that  office  could  direct  those  men  and  see  that  they  got  there — 
to  Kansas,  Idaho,  or  wherever  it  was  necessary. 

Mr.  Brown,  of  New  Jersey.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  say  a 
few  words.  I  represent  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  of  the  Gar- 
den State  of  New  Jersey.  I  have  been  a  farmer  all  my  life  and  my 
ancestors  for  more  than  200  years  were  farmers.  I  want  to  state 
briefly  the  conditions  in  regard  to  labor  and  immigration  in  our 
State  as  I  see  them. 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  41 

We  are  np  against  two  propositions  in  our  State — a  lack  of  trained 
labor  for  the  farm  and  sometimes  the  lack  of  a  price  for  the  product 
that  would  warrant  us  in  keeping  the  trained  labor.  We  can  get  at 
times  sufficient  untrained  labor,  but  we  have  not  the  trained  labor 
necessary  to  plant  and  cultivate  the  crops.  You  take  the  labor  that 
is  offered  to  us  and  there  is  not  one  in  ten  of  those  men  that  can  work 
a  horse  after  a  few  months'  instruction.  In  these  days  in  order  to 
successfully  grow  the  crops  to  feed  the  people  it  is  necessary  that  a 
certain  portion  of  the  men  should  know  how  to  work  horses  and  have 
a  knowledge  of  machinery ;  otherwise  we  are  at  a  great  disadvantage. 

I  was  much  impressed  by  the  talk  of  the  Secretary  of  Commerce 
and  Labor  this  morning,  and  especially  by  his  reference  to  the  con- 
tract-labor law.  We  want  immigrants  who  know  something.  We 
want  specialists,  and  I  have  always  thought  that  the  contract-labor 
law  kept  out  the  very  men  who  were  the  most  desirable.  Just  think 
of  it  for  a  minute.  A  man  who  has  the  knowledge  and  can  get  a 
job — who  has  got  it — can  not  land;  the  man  who  don't  know  and 
comes  here  without  any  idea  where  he  is  going,  I  consider  that  he 
is  a  great  deal  worse  competitor  in  the  matter  of  wages  than  the 
man  who  has  the  job. 

Now,  then,  I  think  that  the  main  point  in  regard  to  this  distribu- 
tion of  immigrants  is  that  men  coming  from  the  farms  in  the  old 
country  should  be  directed  to  farms  in  this  country,  and  that  men 
who  have  other  avocations  in  the  old  country  should  be  taken  care  of 
in  the  same  way,  because  it  certainly  is  a  fact  that  a  man  who  can 
not  speak  our  language  and  who  has  never  been  on  a  farm  is  abso- 
lutely worthless  in  the  majority  of  instances.  The  proper  work  of 
this  department,  as  I  see  it,  is  to  seek  out  men  from  farming  districts 
and  put  them  on  the  farms  in  this  country.  I  think  they  can  do  a 
great  work  in  that  line. 

Talking  about  trained  workers,  we  in  New  Jersey  are  training  up 
our  boys  and  young  men  from  the  farms  in  a  knowledge  of  agri- 
culture. We  have  our  experiment  station,  we  have  our  short  course 
in  agriculture,  and  a  large  percentage  of  our  boys  are  remaining  on 
the  farms.  They  are  getting  the  information,  but  it  is  necessary  that 
Ave  have  a  certain  portion  of  trained  men  to  help  them  out.  I  thank 
you.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  I  am  represent- 
ing in  this  conference  the  State  of  California.  The  title  of  the  office 
to  which  I  have  been  recently  appointed  is  that  of  commissioner  of 
the  bureau  of  labor  statistics.  At  the  outset,  let  me  state,  that  in 
California  I  believe  we  have  a  situation  different  from  any  I  have 
heard  described  here  to-day.  California,  until  recently,  has  been  a 
State  of  large  land  holdings,  due  to  the  fact  that  when  the  United 


42  MSTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

States  acquired  its  western  possessions  it  recognized  as  valid  the 
Spanish  land  grants.  These  land  grants,  of  which  there  were  abfout 
600,  contained  immense  areas.  When  agriculture  succeeded  gold  min- 
ing, some  of  the  owners  turned  to  cultivating  these  lands,  while 
others  held  them,  and  are  still  holding  them,  until  such  time  as  they 
shall  be  divided  up  into  small  farms.  This  led  to  two  problems  that 
have  confronted  the  people  of  California  for  the  past  30  or  40  years. 
The  former  called  for  a  large  amount  of  cheap  labor,  while  the  latter 
prevented  the  American  farmer  from  the  Eastern  States  and  the 
European  immigrant  agriculturists  from  obtaining  small  acreages  at 
reasonable  prices. 

The  influx  of  the  Chinese  after  the  Burlingame  treaty  gave  the 
farmers  the  cheap  labor  they  desired,  and  I  believe  it  was  about  the 
cheapest  labor  that  could  be  obtained  at  that  time.  The  cheapness  of 
this  labor,  the  high  quality  of  the  products  raised,  and  the  successful 
sale  of  same  increased  the  land  values  of  these  farms  and  also  those 
land  grants  that  were  being  held  until  the  price  of  both  had  risen  to 
such  a  point  in  many  sections  of  the  State  that  it  was  practically 
impossible  for  the  average  man  to  go  into  the  business  of  farming. 
Then  came  the  exclusion  of  the  Chinese  and  the  subsequent  demand 
for  some  other  labor  to  take  his  place.  The  Japanese  became  the 
successor  of  the  Chinese  in  farm  labor,  but  let  it  be  understood  at  this 
time  that  the  people  of  the  State  of  California  did  not  desire  the 
Japanese,  but  were  compelled  to  accept  him  in  lieu  of  any  other. 

Probably  the  most  important  point  in  farming  in  California,  and 
the  one  I  desire  to  call  your  particular  attention  to,  is  that  it  is  highly 
specialized.  It  was  early  demonstrated  that  certain  crops  could  be 
grown  to  great  advantage  in  certain  localities,  with  the  result  that 
practically  everybody  in  that  locality  went  into  the  raising  of  that 
particular  crop,  thus  calling  for  a  large  amount  of  labor  during  the 
season  when  such  crop  was  harvested.  This  condition  accounts  for 
the  employment  of  the  Japanese.  The  Japanese  is  a  migratory 
laborer,  whereas  the  white  man  seeks  to  live  where  he  works.  The 
Japanese  who  is  picking  cherries  in  Vaca  Valley  (which  is  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  State),  say,  in  May,  will  follow  the  different 
seasons  and  crops  until  he  is  picking  oranges  in  the  southern  part  of 
of  the  State  (over  500  miles  away)  during  the  months  of  December 
and  January.  The  Japanese  are  under  a  directorate  that  simply 
shifts  them  from  place  to  place  and  from  crop  to  crop,  with  the  result 
that  they  obtain  a  maximum  amount  of  employment  during  the  ye^r. 
Of  course  there  are  certain  classes  of  work  which  are  distasteful  to 
the  white  man  and  to  which  the  Japanese  is  adapted,  namely,  those 
which  must  be  performed  in  a  stooping  or  squatting  position,  such  as 
picking  berries,  cutting  asparagus,  etc.  No  alien  race  has  supplanted 
the  white  man  in  our  grain  fields.     Even  on  land  owned  and  operated 


OONFBBENOB   OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  43 

by  Japanese  the  white  man  handles  the  horses  and  does  the  culti- 
vating, but  the  balance  of  the  work  is  done  by  the  Japanese. 

In  the  past  year  California  has  come  face  to  face  with  a  new 
problem;  that  is,  the  replacement  of  the  Japanese.  Since  the  adop- 
tion of  the  agreement  between  the  United  States  and  Japan  in  1907, 
the  Japanese  laborer  has  to  some  extent  remained  away  temporarily 
from  our  shore  and  the  number  of  Japanese  farm  laborers  has  dimin- 
ished. We  must  now  look  to  Europe  to  obtain  our  supply  of  farm 
labor.  We  have  already  started  to  solve  this  question  by  the  em- 
ployment of  Greeks.  Thousands  of  Greeks  have  come  to  Califor- 
nia in  recent  years  to  be  employed  in  railroad  construction  work,  but 
owing  to  lack  of  this  class  of  work  during  the  past  year  and  dissatis- 
faction of  conditions  under  which  they  were  laboring,  they  were 
induced  to  take  up  agricultural  work,  principally  grape  picking.  In 
the  early  part  of  this  year  a  shortage  of  help  was  reported  in  the 
Fresno  grape  district.  In  many  instances  Japanese  contractors  an- 
nounced that  they  could  not  fulfill  their  contracts  for  the  picking  of 
grapes,  owing  to  their  failure  to  obtain  a  sufficient  number  of  their 
own  countrymen.  Through  the  efforts  of  a  society  into  which  the 
Greeks  have  been  recently  organized,  and  who  have  established  a  free 
employment  agency  in  the  city  of  Fresno,  about  2,000  Greek  laborers 
were  brought  into  the  Fresno  district  and  picked  a  large  part  of  the 
crop.  Even  some  of  the  Japanese  employed  these  Greeks.  From  re- 
ports received  so  far  the  Greeks  have  proven  satisfactory  and  have 
been  a  positive  influence  in  driving  the  Japanese  out  of  this  district. 
The  shortage  of  help  for  the  harvest  has  been  universal  throughout 
the  State.  Just  before  my  leaving  I  called  upon  an  agency  in  Sac- 
ramento representing  the  same  Greek  organization  and  requested 
them  to  send  200  to  300  men  into  Butte  County  for  the  purpose  of 
picking  oranges,  as  I  had  heard  of  a  shortage  of  labor  in  that  vicinity. 

An  important  point  regarding  white  farm  labor  in  California  is 
that  they  are  not  shown  the  respect  that,  in  my  estimation,  is  due 
them.  This  is  accounted  for  largely  by  the  fact  that  the  short  period 
of  time  they  work  on  any  one  farm  does  not  seem  to  justify  the  owner 
in  providing  accommodations  for  them,  with  the  result  that  they  are 
required  to  carry  their  blankets  on  their  backs  and  use  the  sky  for  a 
roof.  This  condition  is  not  conducive  to  the  development  of  a  good 
class  of  farm  labor,  but  rather  to  a  class  of  "  hoboes.''  For  six  months 
of  the  year  they  have  the  sheriff  chasing  them  out  of  town  for  refus- 
ing to  work,  and  the  other  six  months  they  get  chased  out  of  town 
for  a  king  for  work.  Personally,  I  sympathize  with  the  man  who  is 
migrating  from  place  to  nlace,  som.etimes  looking  for  work  and  at 
other  times  trying  to  dodge  the  tax  collector  or  the  sheriff.  Perhaps 
I  can  not  help  that,  owing  to  the  fact  that  my  life  has  been  spent  in 
close  contact  with  the  man  who  toils. 


44  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND   OTHERS. 

The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  probably  solve  the  farm- 
labor  problem  in  California,  but  at  the  same  time  will  place  us  on 
guard  against  the  possible  influx  of  undesirable  immigrants  from 
southern  Europe,  Asia  Minor,  and  Africa.  For  an  additional  cost 
of  from  $7.60  to  $10  the  immigrants  that  are  now  pouring  into  New 
York  will  be  landed  in  San  Francisco.  California  wants  immigrants 
to  cultivate  its  soil,  but  it  wants  the  good  sturdy  peasants  of  Europe, 
not  the  people  from  seaport  towns  who  bring  with  them  all  their 
vices  and  no  virtues  and  who  congregate  in  our  large  cities  and  form 
colonies  in  which  they  maintain  their  own  habits  and  customs,  and 
are  a  continual  source  of  annoyance  to  our  police  departments.  But 
I  realize  that  in  order  to  obtain  the  class  of  immigrants  1  describe 
it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  look  after  their  interests  upon  their 
landing  on  our  shores.  We  have  no  bureau  of  immigration  in  Cali- 
fornia. At  the  last  session  of  the  legislature  a  bill  was  introduced 
providing  for  a  free  employment  bureau,  but  owing  to  the  fact  that 
it  did  not  carry  with  it  an  appropriation  the  governor  did  not  see 
fit  to  sign  it.  However,  we  have  hopes  that  it  will  be  provided  for 
by  the  next  legislature,  and  I  know  the  governor  is  inclined  to  favor 
it  as  an  experiment.  A  free  employment  bureau  would  be  of  in- 
valuable assistance  in  securing  work  upon  the  farms  of  our  State 
for  the  incoming  immigrants.  An  effort  should  be  made,  however, 
to  have  the  immigrants  arrive  during  the  months  of  the  harvest — 
say,  from  May  to  August.  It  would  then  be  a  comparatively  easy 
task  to  secure  employment  for  them  in  the  agricultural  and  horti- 
cultural districts.  The  immigrants  once  placed  in  the  fields,  the 
question  would  solve  itself.  The  industrious  immigrant  could  ac- 
quire a  small  farm  in  a  few  years  under  the  proper  schemes  of 
colonization,  which  are  now  under  way,  dividing  up  the  large  land 
holdings  of  our  State.  These  people  in  turn  would  develop  an  agri- 
cultural community,  which  in  time  would  solve  the  farm-labor 
problem,  with  the  adoption  of  a  scheme  of  varied  crops  within  cer- 
tain localities  and  the  gradual  doing  away  with  high  specialization. 
But  if  the  immigrants  arrive  after  the  harvest  they  will  associate 
with  their  own  countrymen  in  the  large  cities,  with  the  result  that 
after  being  there  for  six  or  eight  months  it  will  be  practically  im- 
possible to  place  them  upon  the  farm^.  Once  given  a  taste  of  city 
life  they  would  never  turn  to  agricultural  pursuits.  I  believe  this  is 
the  experience  of  all  the  large  eastern  ports  of  entry. 

My  bureau,  I  am  satisfied,  is  willing  in  every  way  possible  to  give 
you  all  the  information  that  can  be  had  and  to  lend  any  and  every 
assistance  possible  to  this  division.  I  believe  myself,  though  along 
lines  suggested  by  my  friend,  Mr.  Nugent,  that  without  the  Govern- 
ment or  State  lending  first  aid  to  these  people  as  they  arrive— some- 
thing to  sustain  them  at  least  for  the  first  year  to  get  them  estab- 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  45 

lished — it  will  be  almost  useless  to  send  them  out  for  a  month  or  two 
where  they  meet  the  conditions  that  I  have  related  and  then  let 
them  go  back  into  the  city  and  throw  them  on  the  hands  of  the 
municipality. 

At  this  time  of  the  year  they  come  from  all  over  the  State  of 
California  into  the  city  of  San  Francisco.  We  have  a  large  county 
hospital  and  an  almshouse  there,  and  the  inhabitants  of  these  in- 
stitutions jump  700  or  800  as  soon  as  the  winter  months  come  on. 
Possibly  San  Francisco  is  better  situated  in  that  respect  than  some 
other  cities,  but  such  is  the  case,  and  they  all  come  that  way. 

I  might  add  further  that  I  am  one  who  believes  in  restricting  im- 
migrants to  a  certain  extent.  Mr.  Gompers,  in  his  report  at  the  last 
convention  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  had  this  to  say 
regarding  immigration: 

The  Sixty-first  Congress,  during  the  short  session,  refused  to  take  up  for  con- 
sideration the  immigration  bill  requiring  an  educational  test  for  immigrants, 
by  Mr.  Gardner,  of  Massachusetts,  which  had  been  placed  on  the  discharge 
committee  calendar  in  the  previous  session,  and  it  refused  to  take  up  for  con- 
sideration the  bill  of  Mr.  Hayes,  of  California,  introduced  by  him  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  legislation  excluding  Asiatic  immigrants. 

The  commission  appointed  by  the  Fifty-ninth  Congress,  February  29,  1907, 
to  inquire  into  the  general  subject  matter  of  immigration,  made  its  final  report 
to  Congress  December  5,  1910.  The  commission  recommended  several  methods 
of  restricting  immigrants,  among  which  were: 

(1)  The  exclusion  of  those  unable  to  read  or  write  in  some  language. 

(2)  The  reduction  of  the  number  of  each  race  arriving  each  year  to  a  certain 
percentage  of  the  average  of  that  race  arriving  during  a  given  period  of  years. 

(3)  The  exclusion  of  unskilled  laborers  unaccompanied  by  wives  or  families. 

(4)  The  limitation  of  the  number  of  immigrants  arriving  annually  at  any 
port. 

(5)  Material  increase  in  the  amount  of  money  required  to  be  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  immigrant  at  the  port  of  arrival. 

(6)  Material  increase  of  the  head  tax. 

(7)  The  levying  of  the  head  tax  so  as  to  make  a  marked  discrimination  in 
favor  of  men  with  families. 

Now,  any  of  these  points,  I  believe,  would  be  drawing  a  line  that 
could  properly  be  exercised,  because,  as  it  stands  at  present,  a  great 
many  of  the  larger  corporations  are  bringing  immigrants  into  this 
country  and  treating  them  as  nothing  more  than  common  slaves. 
Those  of  us  who  have  been  around  know  that  condition,  and  God  for- 
bid that  it  be  allowed  to  continue,  because  I  can  foresee  to  what  it  is 
going  to  lead. 

In  speaking  of  migratory  laborers,  President  Gompers  has  this  to 
say,  and  there  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  it,  as  I  think  you  will  agree : 

Resolutions  44  and  86  of  the  St.  Louis  convention,  relating  to  migcatory 
laborers,  was  referred  by  it  to  the  executive  council.  By  reason  of  my  then 
contemplated  visit  to  the  Pacific  Coast  States,  the  executive  council  referred  the 
subject  matter  to  me  for  investigation.  I  have  seen  and  spoken  with  some  of 
the  migratory  laborers  and  their  spokesmen,  and  held  prolonged  conferences 


46  DISTRIBUTION    OF   ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

with  the  representative  labor  men  of  the  Pacific  const  who  have  driven  this  sub- 
ject of  migratory  and  casual  labor  their  closest  observation,  and  the  following 
is  the  result  of  my  investigations,  with  the  recommendations  I  submit  for  your 
consideration  and  action. 

The  lot  of  the  migratory  laborer  in  the  United  States  to-day  is  in  some  points 
worse  than  slavery.  The  slave  was  at  least  sufficiently  well  nourished  to  enable 
him  to  perform  his  allotted  tasks.  He  was  assured  of  a  shelter,  and.  in  case  of 
illness,  of  as  much  care  as  a  thrifty  farn*er  will  give  to  his  horse  or  other 
domestic  animals.  But  the  very  large  proportion  of  unskilled  or  casual  workers 
who  at  the  present  time  usually  find  employment  only  on  short  jobs  or  at  season 
work  suffer  a  precarious  existence.  As  they  move  from  place  to  place  they  often 
go  hungry,  and  while  at  work  their  food  is  usually  of  a  poor  quality,  ill  pre- 
pared. Many  of  them  do  not  earn  enough  to  establish  a  home  or  to  pay  for 
medical  attendance  when  sick  or  suffering  from  accidents.  The  character  of 
much  of  the  work  performed  in  the  United  States  does  not  permit  of  the  steady 
employment  of  a  regular  body  of  men.  Railroad  extension  work,  the  construc- 
tion of  bridges  and  highways,  much  work  in  lumbering,  waterway,  canal,  and 
drainage,  and  in  the  building  trades,  which  are  mostly  carried  on  in  the  less 
inclement  seasons  of  the  year,  are  characterized  by  idleness  for  months  together 
of  tens  of  thousands  of  men.  In  agriculture  large  bo<i:es  of  men  are  employed 
during  the  seasons  of  plowing,  seeding,  planting,  and  harvest,  only  to  be  left 
without  steady  work  the  rest  of  the  year.  In  all,  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  how 
many  men  are  thus  living  in  the  United  States  to-day,  but  the  number  reaches 
into  the  millions. 

He  goes  on  to  explain  what  the  Pacific  coast  has  to  fear  with  the 
opening  of  the  canal,  and  I  thoroughly  agree  with  him. 

I  desire  to  thank  this  bureau  for  the  call,  and  hope  to  be  able  to 
render  you  any  and  every  assistance  when  called  upon.    [Applause.] 

The  Chairman.  Have  you,  in  your  brief  period  of  activity  in  your 
bureau,  had  any  knowledge  of  the  Swiss  and  Italian  colonies  that  are 
out  there? 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  The  Italian  in  California  is  very  thrifty,  more 
so,  I  dare  say,  than  in  any  other  State  in  the  United  States.  With 
the  Italian  we  have  had  little  or  no  trouble.  There  are  some  of  them 
on  railroad  work,  but  many  of  them  have  taken  to  farming,  particu- 
larly in  the  grape  and  wine  business,  and  we  have  no  cause  to  com- 
plain in  any  manner  of  the  Italian.  The  Swiss  has  largely  taken  to 
dairying,  and  we  have  never  had  any  trouble  whatever  with  them. 
They  have  colonies  in  some  sections  of  the  State.  The  Swiss  is  en- 
tirely in  the  dairy  business;  the  Italian  is  largely  in  the  fruit,  vege- 
table, and  produce  business. 

Mr.  Trenor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  should  like  to  make  an  observation 
with  reference  to  the  passage  just  read  from  Mr.  Gompers's  report,  in 
which  he  says  that  the  Immigration  Commission  recommended  the 
various  measures  of  restriction.  I  think  a  perusal  of  the  report  will 
show  that  they  did  not  recommend  them,  but  pointed  them  out  as 
means  by  which  restriction  could  be  had,  without  specifically  recom- 
mending those  things. 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  I  read  from  his  report. 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  47 

Mr.  Trenor.  T  understand ;  but  I  think  he  is  mistaken  in  that, 
although  afterwards  it  was  foiinulated  into  a  bill. 

Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Chairman,  for  the  sake  of  unity  it  is  perhaps 
advisable  for  me  to  speak  at  this  time — just  briefly,  however.  I  came 
here  to  listen,  and  before  I  say  anything  more  I  would  like  very 
mucli  to  offer  a  resolution  in  regard  to  our  attitude  toward  the  calling 
of  this  conference.  Certainly,  from  our  standpoint,  we  regard  it  as  a 
highly  intelligent  proceeding  and  one  that  is  very  vital  and  should  be 
very  fruitful — should  be  repeated  in  the  future — and  I  think  that 
an  expression  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  those  of  us  who  are  here  as  to 
our  attitude  toward  the  Division  of  Information  might  properly  be 
given.    Would  that  be  so,  Mr.  Chairman? 

The  Chairman.  If  it  comes  in  the  shape  of  a  resolution,  of  course 
it  goes  to  the  committee  on  resolutions. 

Mr.  Lynch.  Then,  before  I  make  any  further  remarks,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, I  will  offer  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  we  hail  with  highest  commendation  the  occasion  which 
brings  us  together;  that  we  regard  the  sympathetic  conference  and  cooperation 
of  the  various  interested  organizations  and  State  agencies  with  the  Depart- 
ment, of  Commerce  and  Labor  as  a  most  highly  intelligent  and  necessary  pro- 
ceeding; that  we  most  strongly  commend  the  establishment  and  workings  of 
the  Division  of  Information,  and  respectfully  urge  its  importance  and  signifi- 
cance, and  pray  for  a  great  extension  of  its  purpose  and  work. 

The  Chairman.  Without  any  discussion  that  will  be  referred  to 
the  committee  on  resolutions. 

Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Chairman,  in  regard  to  California,  it  is  true,  as 
the  chief  of  the  bureau  of  labor  statistics  has  said,  that  we  have  no 
such  official  bureau  appointed  by  the  State.  At  the  same  time,  in 
California  we  are  thoroughly  alive  to  the  situation,  and  we  do  have 
commercial  organizations  which  are  dealing  to  some  adequate  degree 
with  this  question  at  the  present  time.  I  have  been  engaged  in  the 
past  few  months  in  gathering  a  mass  of  material  which,  unfortu- 
nately, is  out  of  the  range  of  this  particular  inquiry.  That  is  to  say, 
I  have  been  investigating  the  possibilities  of  European  immigration 
as  it  will  probably  occur  after  the  opening  of  the  canal.  At  the  same 
time  we  are  very  deeply  interested  in  the  distribution  of  the  immi- 
grant, as  is  the  purpose  of  this  inquiry ;  and  California  has  been  ex- 
tremely fortunate  in  securing  the  very  best  class  of  reemigrant  who 
has  located  in  the  United  States  and  finally  come  to  California.  I 
do  not  desire  to  disagree  with  Mr.  McLaughlin,  who  has  just  spoken, 
but  I  would  state  as  my  opinion  that  California  has  a  more  unusually 
large  proportion  of  foreigners  on  the  soil  than  any  other  part  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  we  also  have  a  greater  variety  upon  the  soil. 
For  instance,  60  per  cent,  perhaps,  of  our  Swiss  and  Italians  in  Cali- 
fornia are  located  upon  the  soil,  and  we  have  had  very  splendid 
results. 


48  DISTKIBUTION    OF   ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

Now,  I  venture  to  read  just  two  or  three  paragraphs  from  a  re- 
port that  happens  to  touch  upon  the  matters  that  are  vital  to  this 
inquiry,  particularly  as  to  the  needs  of  California. 

It  seems  beyond  dispute  that  California  is  in  need  of  much  greater  popula- 
tion. The  second  State  in  size  in  the  Union,  it  is  twelfth  in  population. 
(Census  1910.)  Its  density  of  population  is  15.2  persons  per  square  mile; 
that  of  Rhode  Island,  the  most  densely  populated  of  any  State,  is  508.5;  of 
Pennsylvania,  171;  of  Illinois,  100.7.  There  are  still  vast  stretches  of  unde- 
veloped land  and  abundant  opportunity  for  intensive  farming.  (1911  Annual 
C.  D.  B.,  p.  69.)  Italy  supported  a  population  averaging  293.7  persons  to  the 
square  mile,  Holland  460,  Germany  300.5,  and  France  187.5.  While  it  is  not 
desirable  that  our  population  be  as  closely  proportioned  to  the  resourcefulness 
of  our  soil  as  that  of  European  countries,  it  appears  certainly  true  that  many 
thousands  more  farmers  should  be  occupying  the  choice  lands  now  being 
marketed  on  terms  that  permit  intelligent  men  with  small  capital  to  successfully 
engage  in  farming. 

Agricultural  labor  is  scarce,  and  white  labor  well-nigh  impossible  to  secure, 
although  the  general  verdict  among  farmers  is  that  they  would  prefer  white 
men  if  they  could  secure  them.  (State  Labor  Commission;  Asiatic  Exclusion 
League;  Grangers.)  The  "back  to  the  farm"  movement  from  our  cities 
(Catholic  Colonization  Society;  Jewish  Agricultural  and  Industrial  Aid  So- 
ciety; Baron  de  Hirsch  Fund;  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  etc.),  unless  it  acquires  much  greater 
headway  than  it  has  yet  attained,  though  excellent  as  far  as  it  goes,  would 
prove  a  slow  method  of  peopling  the  rural  districts. 

I  would  like  to  say  in  that  connection  that  the  city  man  who  goes 
out  upon  the  farm,  even  if  he  has  capital,  very  often — indeed,  in  the 
majority  of  cases — makes  a  failure.  He  is  not  adapted  to  it.  It 
takes  a  man  who  has  been  brought  up  upon  the  soil,  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases,  to  succeed. 

Our  great  need,  therefore,  is  to  secure  agricultural  labor  and  ambitious  and 
intelligent  farmers.  People  for  our  cities  we  do  not  need,  and  those  countries 
which  are  sending  city  dwellers  to  the  United  States  may  well  be  neglected  in 
any  advertising  we  undertake.  The  Western  States  have  been  engaged  in 
luring  farmers  from  east  of  the  Rockies  by  many  methods  for  some  years,  and 
continue  to  do  so.  (Literature,  land  shows,  homeseekers'  rates  west,  adver- 
tisements,) It  is  the  opinion  of  your  commissioner  that  there  are  places  in 
Europe  which  could  furnish  us  these  same  intelligent  farmers. 

That  the  European  is  a  better  farmer  than  the  American  James  J.  Hill  shows 
by  convincing  figures  in  his  recent  book.  Highways  and  Byways  of  Progress, 
1911,  and  it  appears  that  we  shall  not  arrive  as  a  nation  at  true  conservations 
of  our  soil  until  we  copy  the  methods  employed  in  the  intensive  farming  of  the 
old  countries.  (Highways  and  Byways  of  Progress,  ch.  3.)  In  our  own  State 
the  price  of  land  has  been  "  bid  up  "  in  numerous  instances  by  the  Portuguese, 
Italians,  Armenians,  etc.,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  they  can  get  more  out  of 
the  land  than  the  Americans.  (Prof.  H.  A.  Millis  in  Report  of  Immigration 
Commission,  1911.) 

It  is  certainly  true  that  when  the  most  stupid-looking  foreigner 
arrives  he  knows  the  value  of  the  soil.  If  he  is  charged  too  much 
for  it  he  knows  whether  he  can  get  that  much  out  of  it  or  not. 


CONFEBENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  49 

We  have  frequently  heard  experienced  farmers  marvel  at  the  most  infallible 
good  judgment  these  same  people  exhibit  in  their  choice  of  land  and  their 
ability  to  make  apparently  impossible  tracts  yield  abundantly.  An  interesting 
series  of  articles  on  the  contributions  of  the  various  foreigners  to  our  agricul- 
ture is  now  running  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post,  written  by  Forrest  Crissey. 

In  this  week's  Post,  just  out,  Mr.  Crissey  has  given  quite  an  ex- 
tensive article  about  the  Portuguese,  than  whom  there  is  no  better 
farmer  in  America,  in  regard  to  his  success  in  California. 

Although  the  East  is  reputed  to  have  the  bulk  of  the  foreign  population,  it  is 
a  fact  that  California  has  a  cosmopolitan  collection,  especially  on  the  land, 
which  few,  if  any,  of  the  Eastern  States  can  equal,  and  is,  therefore,  admirably 
fitted  to  judge  first-hand  of  the  traits  and  possibilities  of  the  different  nationali- 
ties. (When  Mr.  Crissey  wished  last  spring  to  gather  the  material  for  the 
series  of  articles  mentioned  above  he  came  to  California  to  make  his  investiga- 
tions.) The  question  of  whom  California  wants  is  one  that  is,  in  the  main, 
settled  here  at  home  by  a  study  of  our  foreign-born  population  and  the  natives 
of  foreign-born  parentage.  How  we  shall  secure  these  people,  however,  becomes 
a  question  of  knowing  the  conditions  in  the  countries  from  which  they  come. 

Almost  unnumbered  volumes  have  been  written  upon  the  "  desirability  "  or 
otherwise  of  the  immigrants.  Arguments  pro  and  con  each  race  have  been 
based  upon  every  imaginable  point  of  view,  ranging  from  consideration  of 
ethnic  traits  and  resulting  traits  of  character  to  education,  financial  condition, 
and  health.  There  seems  not  to  exist  the  race  that  is  without  its  stanch  cham- 
pions and  also  its  vigorous  detractors.  While  making,  with  considerable  care, 
a  study  of  these  many  and  diverse  opinions  and  theories  relative  to  immigration 
and  its  effect  upon  our  country,  your  commissioner  does  not  consider  that  it 
lies  within  his  province  to  catalogue  th'e  Europeans  as  "  desirables  "  or  "  unde- 
sirables." It  is  his  opinion  that  there  are  no  undesirable  countries  in  Europe, 
although  there  are  undesirable  elements  in  all  the  countries,  and  in  some  in- 
stances the  United  States  has  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  draw  most  of  its  immi- 
gration from  these  sources. 

Undoubtedly  the  great  distance  European  peoples  have  to  come  to  reach 
California  has  served  as  a  filter  to  eliminate  the  less  intelligent  and  robust. 
(At  the  present  time  steerage  fare  from  Hamburg  to  New  York  is  $34  and  third- 
class  fare  $28  to  $39;  from  Hamburg  to  San  Francisco  it  is  $64.75  more,  plus 
the  cost  of  a  berth,  which  is  $5.60  for  an  upper  or  $7  for  a  lower,  making  a 
total  of  $104.35,  the  cheapest  for  which  the  trip  can  be  made.)  De  facto 
the  man  who  comes  to  California  direct  from  Europe  is  a  pretty  good  risk  for 
us  to  take,  for  it  requires  energy,  intelligence,  and  thrift  to  save  sufficient  money, 
where  money  is  so  difficult  of  saving,  as  it  is  in  most  European  countries,  for  the 
transportation  of  himself  and  possibly  his  family  to  the  Pacific  coast.  (Emil 
Boas,  Viv.  Fed.  of  N.  Y.  Rep.,  1905.)  To  a  degree  this  same  rule  of  elimination 
of  the  less  capable  will  hold  even  after  the  canal  shortens  the  journey,  for  it 
will  still  take  more  than  twice  as  long  and  cost  fully  twice  as  much  to  reach  the 
Pacific  coast  than  it  does  the  Atlantic.  (Correspondence  with  Edward  A. 
Steiuer  brings  up  his  opinion  that  the  length  of  the  journey  "  would  not  deter 
strong  movements  both  of  a  desirable  and  an  undesirable  class.")  It  seems  rea- 
sonable to  expect  that  the  length  and  expense  of  the  journey  by  Panama,  while 
no  longer  prohibitive  to  many  who  would  hesitate  to  come  to  the  coast  now,  will 
still  act  as  a  barrier  in  our  favor  against  the  more  poverty-stricken  peoples. 

In  general,  the  countries  in  Europe  may  be  classified  for  our  purposes,  as 
follows : 

23508°— 12 4 


60  DISTRIBUTION    OF    ADMITTED   ALIENS  AND   OTHERS. 

First  Countries  without  desirable  material.  There  are  none  such,  though 
there  are  countries  where  the  desirable  and  the  distinctly  undesirable  are  so 
closely  intermingled  that  there  would  be  no  possible  chance  for  appealing  to  the 
one  class  without  including  the  other.  The  best  wisdom  dictates  that  we  leave 
out  of  any  plans  we  may  make  for  publicity  abroad  the  countries  of  southeastern 
Europe  where  this  condition  exists;  the  more,  as  the  laws  in  these  countries 
are  prohibitive  of  Inducements  to  emigration. 

Second.  Countries  having  desirable  material,  but  where  the  laws  hinder  pub- 
licity.   These  would  include  Spain,  Portugal,  Germany,  and  Russia. 

Third.  Countries  having  desirable  material,  but  where  economic  conditions 
are  unfavorable  to  emigration,  as  Sweden,  Norway,  Denmark,  and  Switzerland. 

Fourth.  Countries  having  desirable  material  and  where  laws  and  conditions 
confirm  the  belief  that  results  could  be  secured  by  California  publicity.  Such 
countries  are  Belgium,  British  Isles,  France,  Holland,  and  northern  Italy. 

These  are  the  only  portions  of  my  report  which  have  referred  to 
our  immediate  object,  Mr.  Chairman,  but  I  have  some  material  in 
connection  with  my  investigations  during  the  summer  which  will  be 
available  in  a  printed  report  if  anybody  desires  it.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Cunningham.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  I  am  especially 
pleased  to  represent  Texas  before  this  conference,  not  only  because 
it  is  one  of  our  great  States  and  the  biggest  in  the  Union,  but  be- 
cause it  produced  the  honorable  tall  gentlemen  who  addressed  you 
this  morning.  Mr.  Nagel  was  born  in  a  little  town  about  60  miles 
from  Houston,  and  he  gave  me  a  sample  of  the  way  in  which  Texas 
has  developed  by  a  remark  lie  made  this  morning.  He  said  that 
when  he  left  Texas  his  part  of  the  State  was  a  cattle  country,  and 
when  he  visited  that  part  recently  he  found  it  under  cultivation — 
rice  fields,  truck  farms,  and  everything  of  that  character. 

Texas  has  no  immigration  bureau,  but  I  think  it  is  interested  in 
this  question  regardless  of  that  fact.  In  1869, 1  believe  it  was,  during 
the  reconstruction  period,  a  provision  was  inserted  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  State  providing  for  an  immigration  bureau,  with  a  super- 
intendent of  immigration,  at  a  salary  of  about  $2,000  a  year.  I  think 
Texas,  therefore,  is  a  pioneer  in  distributing  information  about  the 
attractions  in  that  quarter  of  this  country  for  immigrants.  But  fol- 
lowing the  reconstruction  period,  in  1875,  when  a  Democrat  suc- 
ceeded the  military  governor,  the  people  drafted  a  constitution  just 
as  dissimilar  to  the  reconstruction  constitution  as  possible,  and  in- 
cidentally left  out  the  provision  regarding  the  immigration  bureau. 
It  has  been  held  since  then,  so  I  am  advised  by  the  commissioner  of 
agriculture,  that  State  funds  may  not  be  used  for  the  work  of  send- 
ing out  information  or  in  going  through  the  routine  of  conferring 
with  the  Division  of  Information  of  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and 
Naturalization  here. 

Texas,  however,  is  interested  in  immigration.  The  State  was  built 
up  by  the  early  settlers.    Some  of  them  came  to  that  section  in  the 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  51 

early  days,  not  only  without  capital  but  without  knowing  anything 
about  the  language  or  the  country,  and  they  to-day  are  the  backbone 
and  sinew  of  our  population.  I  know  an  Austrian  in  one  part  of  the 
State  who — I  do  not  know  that  he  landed  at  Galveston  barefooted, 
but  he  did  not  have  any  money — came  there  with  a  pal  from  Den- 
mark wearing  wooden  shoes,  and  they  to-day  are  two  of  the  best 
citizens  of  the  State.  Conditions  have  changed  since  then,  and  we 
want  now  to  get  into  our  State  those  people  who  will  settle  there  and 
build  homes  and  become  citizens  and  contribute  to  the  upbuilding  of 
the  State. 

Texas  to-day  has,  I  believe,  165,747,000  acres  of  surface  land.  Of 
that  great,  almost  incomprehensible  body  of  land  there  are  but 
30,000,000  acres  in  cultivation.  The  State  has  a  population  of 
3,896,542.  We  have  room  to-day  for  3,000,000  more  farmers,  and  it 
is  the  farming  class  that  we  want  to  see  come  into  our  section. 

I  am  encouraged  to  believe  that  some  body  will  be  organized  in 
Texas  clothed  with  the  authority  of  the  State  to  keep  in  constant 
touch  with  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  here  regarding  the  distribu- 
tion of  immigrants,  and  I  believe  that  the  time  will  come  when  there 
will  be  an  immigration  bureau,  as  much  to  keep  the  Government  in- 
formed as  to  the  people  we  do  not  want  as  to  those  we  do  want.  It 
has  been  demonstrated  that  a  man  who  will  cultivate,  say  40  acres  of 
land,  and  put  it  into  a  truck  farm  will  make  from  $1,000  to  $2,000  a 
year,  and  that  it  is  much  more  profitable  for  him  to  engage  in  an 
agricultural  pursuit  on  this  land  than  to  try  to  raise  a  long-horned 
steer  on  the  s?me  area. 

The  immigration  to  Texas  during  the  past  year,  according  to  the 
most  reliable  figures  I  can  get — the  influx  of  citizens,  both  alien  and 
American — amounted  to  about  90,000  persons.  One  of  the  most  re- 
liable bits  of  information  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  was  from  the 
Encyclopedia  of  Texas,  prepared  by  the  Dallas  News,  through  the 
assistance  of  the  immigration  agents  of  the  railroads,  who  went  to 
a  good  deal  of  expense  and  sacrificed  some  time  to  give  them  this 
information.  That  report  shows  that  about  60,000  home  seekers — I 
will  not  call  them  immigrants — entered  Texas  last  year.  A  recent 
statement  which  I  saw,  by  the  inspector  of  naturalization  for  Texas, 
Mr.  Walter  S.  Daly,  was  to  the  effect  that  16,000  immigrants  entered 
the  State  in  the  past  fiscal  year,  of  whom  only  some  600  went  on  else- 
where dissatisfied.  I  think  that  is  a  pretty  good  indication  that  the 
imn)igrant  who  is  thrifty  and  wants  to  locate  and  grow  up  with  the 
country  finds  something  to  attract  him  in  Texas. 

The*  percentage  of  alien  immigrants  arriving  in  Texas  is  much 
smaller  than  the  percentage  of  home  seekers.  It  is  hard  to  dis- 
tinguish the  native  from  the  alien  among  the  home-seeker  class,  but 


52  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

I  understand  that  during  the  past  year  there  were  about  4,000  aliens 
landed  in  the  United  States  at  Texas  ports.  Of  course,  those  were 
distributed  about  through  the  West,  not  all  staying  in  Texas. 

The  sentiment  throughout  the  State  is  unequivocally  for  stringent 
regulation  of  immigration.  That  question,  I  realize,  is  wholly 
foreign  to  the  real  problem  under  consideration  here,  that  of  dis- 
tributing the  immigrants  after  they  are  with  us.  I  am  encouraged 
to  believe,  by  a  telegram  I  have  just  received  from  the  commissioner 
of  agriculture  of  Texas,  that  a  movement  will  be  on  foot  ere  long — 
and  I  assure  you  I  shall  lend  my  humble  assistance  to  it — for  the 
establishment  of  an  immigration  bureau.  Right  now  Texas  is  full 
of  commercial  bodies — highly  patriotic,  loyal  citizens  all — each  of 
which  wants  to  see  its  section  developed  fastest,  and,  of  course,  the 
Division  of  Information  here,  in  writing  to  such  bodies,  feels  that 
possibly  a  real-estate  booster  inspires  the  reply,  and  they  may  feel 
that  they  are  not  getting  the  information  they  ought  to  have  as  to 
the  advantages.  But  with  a  State  body  the  bureau  here  could  keep 
in  touch  by  bulletins  and  letters,  weekly  letters  or  monthly  letters, 
telling  of  conditions  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  and  thus  a  great 
service  could  be  rendered  not  only  to  the  State  but  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  to  the  immigrant. 

Texas  has  advantages  for  the  man  who  is  thrifty,  but  it  does  not 
want  colonies  of  drones  or  the  dregs  of  southern  Europe  brought 
within  its  borders.  I  say  that  advisedly,  knowing  at  the  same  time 
that  there  are  good  substantial  citizens  in  our  State  who  came  there 
in  the  early  days  as  pioneers,  entered  the  great  expanse  of  territory 
in  wooden-wheeled  carts,  drawn  by  oxen,  and  made  the  foundation 
for  the  civilization  we  have  down  there  to-day. 

I  thank  you,  gentlemen.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Walker.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  I  deem  it  a  great 
pleasure  to  meet  with  gentlemen  of  the  class  that  I  meet  with  here 
to-day,  and  I  wish  to  convey  to  you  the  message  from  the  commis- 
sioner of  labor  of  Iowa  and  from  the  governor  of  Iowa,  that  they 
are  heartily  in  accord  with  the  movement  which  is  being  launched 
forth  here  to-day. 

I  stand  before  you  as  a  representative  from  the  only  State  in  the 
United  States  that  lost  in  population,  and  probably  it  would  be  well 
to  tell  you  why  we  lost  in  population.  [Laughter.]  We  lost  in 
population  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  people  in  Iowa  are  getting 
too  wealthy,  and  they  do  not  want  to  stay  there.  They  want  to  go 
out  and  get  more  land.  In  Iowa  the  price  of  land  has  so  increased 
in  the  last  few  years  that  the  man  with  a  family  of  three  »r  four 
children  and  who  has  40  or  80  acres  sees  that  he  can  go  north 
or  west  and  take  the  money  that  he  can  sell  his  little  farm  for  and 
can  buy  double  the  amount  of  land.     That  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the 


CONFEKENOE  OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  53 

decrease  in  population.  These  farmers  in  Iowa  have  been  very  suc- 
cessful in  the  last  few  years.  Everything  they  have  touched,  as  the 
saying  is,  has  turned  to  gold,  and  they  are  all  thrifty. 

I  want  to  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  Iowa  is  short  of  farm  hands. 
Now,  when  I  say  farm  hands  I  mean  mechanics.  I  was  impressed 
with  the  remarks  that  the  Secretary  made  here  this  morning.  I 
want  to  tell  you  that  in  Iowa  a  farmer  is  a  mechanic,  and  if  he  is 
not  a  mechanic  he  can  not  farm,  because  the  price  of  land  is  so  high 
that  he  must  necessarily  know  all  the  ins  and  outs  about  farming  in 
order  to  make  it  a  success.  As  you  all  know,  we  have  probably  the 
greatest  farmer-making  establishment  in  the  world  at  Ames,  and 
that  is  where  we  get  our  farmers.  We  make  them  at  Ames  at  the 
agricultural  college. 

I  want  to  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  we  want  farmers  in  Iowa,  but 
we  do  not  want  (as  the  gentlemen  who  preceded  me  said)  these 
drones  that  come  from  the  old  countries.  Now,  before  we  adjourn 
I  want  this  body  to  arrive  at  some  conclusion  and  tell  me  what  to 
do  when  I  get  back  to  Iowa  to  remedy  some  of  the  conditions  that 
exist  there. 

First,  we"  have  a  class  of  people  in  Iowa  that  come  from  the  old 
country  that  are  neither  good  citizens  nor  good  laborers,  and  that  is 
the  class  of  people  that  we  want  to  get  rid  of.  They  are  a  detriment 
to  society;  they  are  a  detriment  to  the  communities;  and  they  are  a 
detriment  to  the  labor  organizations,  and  not  only  to  the  labor  organ- 
izations but  to  the  laboring  men,  for  they  are  wage  paralyzers,  if 
you  will  excuse  that  expression. 

For  instance,  take  the  situation  on  all  the  railroads  in  Iowa.  At 
any  station  of  any  consequence  you  will  see  anywhere  from  1  to 
15  old  box  cars  over  on  a  sidetrack,  and  these  box  cars  are  filled 
with  those  foreigners,  who  eat,  sleep,  drink,  etc.,  in  that  car,  and  who 
buy  the  very  cheapest  of  food  and  material  to  live  on,  and  they  never 
become  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  if  they  get  $1  a  day  90  cents 
of  that  goes  back  to  the  old  country.  That  is  the  condition  in  Iowa. 
Now,  we  want  you  before  you  adjourn  to  tell  us  what  to  do. 

Mr.  Trappe.  Where  are  they  from — what  country? 

Mr.  Walker.  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  answer  that;  you  prob- 
ably know.  I  do  not  like  to  come  out  and  be  so  broad.  But  they 
are  foreigners,  and  in  those  cars  where  thej^  live  on  these  sidetracks — 
well,  we  have  farmers  in  Iowa  who  have  hogpens,  and  the  conditions 
where  these  hogs  live  and  move  and  have  their  being  are  better  con- 
ditions than  those  under  which  these  people  live  that  are  located  in 
these  cars.  Thank  God  that  we  did  have  one  place  in  Iowa,  in  one 
town,  where  the  city  council  went  to  work  and  drafted  an  ordinance 
naki  ng  it  a  nuisance  for  the  railroads  to  house  these  people  inside 
the  corporation. 


64  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

A  Delegate.  Isn't  that  your  remedy,  then?     [Laughter.] 

Mr.  Walker.  No  ;  not  altogether.  Now,  we  want  these  people  who 
want  to  farm.  We  have  plenty  of  places  in  Iowa  for  good  farmers, 
although  farm  hands  are  not  very  scarce.  In  the  department  that 
I  represent  we  had  last  year  probably  100  calls  for  farm  hands,  but 
farm  hands  are  not  very  scarce  in  Iowa,  and  these  people  that  I 
speak  of  will  not  go  on  a  farm  under  any  consideration.  In  fact, 
they  do  not  know  enough  to  farm.  As  I  say,  in  Iowa  a  farmer  must 
be  a  mechanic,  and  before  this  convention  adjourns  I  would  be  glad 
to  send  word  to  our  governor  and  to  the  commissioner  of  labor  of 
Iowa  that  a  remedy  has  been  sought  whereby  we  can  get  rid  of  that 
undesirable  class  of  people  who  come  to  Iowa.  I  thank  you. 
[Applause.] 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Chairman,  before  the  next  gentleman  speaks, 
might  I  ask  a  question?  I  would  like  to  ask  the  gentleman  from 
Iowa  whether  the  railroad  corporation  or  the  employee  is  responsible 
for  this  condition. 

Mr.  Walker.  Well,  the  wage  is  set  so  that  they  can  not  live  any 
better. 

Miss  Kellor.  Are  you  familiar  with  the  padrone  system? 

Mr.  Walker.  I  have  been  working  along  that  line  for  the  last 
three  years. 

Miss  Kellor.  New  York  State  in  the  past  year  has  passed  a  lodg- 
ing-house law  which  prohibits  any  corporation  or  any  contractor  en- 
gaged in  temporary  work  from  housing  the  men  except  according  to 
specifications  prescribed  by  law,  which  are  under  the  control  of  the 
department  of  labor.  That  is  how  we  reach  the  subject  in  New 
York  State. 

Mr.  Walker.  I  want  to  say.  Madam,  for  your  information  and 
that  of  others  present,  that  that  is  one  of  the  hardest  questions  to  get 
at  that  I  have  ever  tried  to  solve.  One  gentleman  who  spoke  here 
made  reference  to  the  charging  of  so  much  for  the  job.  I  want  to 
relate  one  case  that  I  found  to  show  you  how  these  things  are  car- 
ried on. 

I  went  into  one  city  in  our  State — the  matter  had  been  brought  to 
the  attention  of  the  labor  commissioner,  and  he  wanted  one  of  his 
inspectors  to  make  an  investigation,  so  he  sent  me — and  I  stayed 
three  weeks  at  this  place  to  make  this  investigation.  I  found  that 
this  corporation  hired  a  man  that  they  called  an  interpreter.  They 
paid  him  so  much  a  month  for  interpretation,  and  he  would  hire 
these  foreigners  and  charge  them  $5  apiece  for  the  job  to  start  with. 
That  $5  was  to  come  out  of  the  man's  first  pay,  regardless  of  any- 
thing else;  he  must  pay  that  $5  out  of  the  first  money  he  earned. 
Then,  in  addition  to  that,  these  poor  foreigners  who  could  not  talk 
wanted  to  send  some  of  this  money  home,  and  every  foreigner  that 


CONFERENCE  OF  STATE   OFFICIAI/S.  56 

wanted  to  send  money  home  to  his  family  had  to  pay  $1  for  the  serv- 
ices of  this  man  to  get  the  check,  or  whatever  it  might  be,  to  send 
home  to  his  follis. 

In  addition  to  that,  there  were  no  names  on  the  pay  roll — simply 
numbers.  This  interpreter  would  call  for  No.  1,  and  No.  1  would  go 
up  to  the  pay  car  or  the  pay  station  to  get  his  pay.  This  interpreter 
would  sign  his  name  for  him  in  his  foreign  language,  and  it  cost 
that  poor  fellow  $1  to  get  his  name  signed.  Those  are  some  of  the 
conditions  that  exist. 

Miss  Kellor.  In  answer  to  that  second  question.  New  York  State 
has  passed  a  private  banking  law  which  prohibits  any  individual  in 
the  State  from  transmitting  money  abroad  unless  he  has  a  license. 

The  Chairman.  Before  introducing  Mr.  Pearson  to  you  I  would 
suggest  to  Brother  Walker  that  he  have  a  conference  with  Miss 
Kellor.  She  will  tell  you  a  lot  of  things  in  a  very  practical  way.  I 
know  that,  because  she  has  had  the  investigation  of  all  these  condi- 
tions at  her  finger  ends. 

Mr.  Pearson.  Mr.  Chairman,  ladies,  and  gentlemen:  The  story  of 
the  rise  and-  fall  and  of  the  beginning  again  of  improvement  in 
connection  with  the  agricultural  labor  situation  in  New  York  State 
is  one  of  very  great  interest.  It  would  read  like  a  romance.  But, 
Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  think  that  you  desire  to  spend  your  time 
in  hearing  that  storj^,  and  I  do  not  propose  to  burden  you  with  it, 
though  it  is  one  of  great  interest.  Nor  do  I  propose  to  take  your 
time  by  exploiting  the  advantages  of  New  York  State.  I  am  here 
for  a  very  definite  purpose,  and  I  believe  yoM  are  here  for  the  same 
purpose.  We  have  all  responded  to  the  call  of  our  chairman,  and 
we  congratulate  him  upon  the  thought  that  has  prompted  this  meet- 
ing. We  are  here,  as  I  understand  it,  to  devise  ways  and  means  of 
improving  this  agricultural  labor  situation  as  it  exists  to-day.  We 
have  heard  from  a  number  of  States,  and  I  have  noted  with  much 
care  that  when  they  come  to  the  expression  of  their  needs  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  similarity.  In  most  cases  there  is  need  of  agricultural 
labor  some  or  all  of  the  time.  In  a  few  cases  we  have  heard  that 
there  is  an  excess  of  labor  of  certain  types. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  it  appeals  to  me  that  it  would  be  well  if  we 
could  confine  our  discussion  rather  closely  to  this  subject  in  order 
that  we  may  get  over  the  ground  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  at  the 
risk  of  making  a  mistake  I  want  to  offer  a  suggestion.  I  believe 
that  the  subject  will  be  well  covered  by  the  resolutions  committee  in 
time;  but  if  it  is  discussed  here,  it  may  be  of  some  assistance  to 
that  committee. 

The  fact  is  that  in  some  places  there  is  an  excess  of  labor — we 
know  that  condition  exists  in  our  cities  at  certain  times — and  in  other 


56  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

places  there  is  a  dearth  of  labor.  Now,  very  briefly,  we  are  here 
to  consider  how  these  conditions  can  be  best  met.  Is  it  not  very 
largely  a  phase  of  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  that  we  have  to 
consider?  Is  it  not  possible,  gentlemen,  for  us  here  to  devise  a 
practical  working  scheme  which,  when  adopted,  will  at  once  place 
information  where  it  is  needed,  and  when  the  information  is  where 
it  is  needed  will  not  these  conditions  to  a  very  large  extent  adjust 
themselves  ? 

Now,  I  want  to  suggest — at  the  risk,  as  I  said,  of  making  an  error — 
that  Mr.  Powderly's  office  should  have  a  representative  in  every  State, 
or  nearly  every  State,  of  this  country.  That  representative  would,  of 
course,  be  in  close  touch  with  the  central  office  in  Washington.  Then 
I  would  adopt  a  suggestion  offered  to  me  by  Mr.  Sandles,  I  think,  in 
discussion,  that  each  State  which  cares  to  do  so  might  do  well  to  have 
its  own  representative  in  Mr.  Powderly's  office  which  is  located  in 
his  own  State ;  and  those  States  should  extend  the  system  of  offices — 
farm-labor  bureaus  or  labor  bureaus,  or  employment  agencies,  or 
whatever  term  you  choose  to  use — throughout  the  State,  so  far  as  the 
conditions  demand. 

I  think,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  the  first  great  difficulty  of  to-day  is 
that  we  have  not  the  right  information  at  the  right  place  at  the 
right  time.  I  think  that  is  a  question  for  us  to  discuss.  That  is  why 
I  am  here,  and  I  think  we  are  all  here  for  that  reason.  How  can  we 
adjust  that  condition?  I  believe,  sir,  that  the  suggestion  that  I  have 
made  is  the  best  one  I  can  think  of.  I  have  no  doubt  that  these  men, 
many  of  whom  have  been  in  the  work  longer  than  I,  have  better  sug- 
gestions, and  I  earnestly  hope  that  we  may  hear  some  of  these  con- 
crete suggestions.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Sandles.  Mr.  Pearson,  while  you  are  up  will  you  tell  what  you 
have  accomplished  at  Albany  for  the  State  of  New  York  ? 

Mr.  Pearson.  I  do  not  wish  to  exploit  New  York.  I  am  here  to 
discuss  principles,  and  I  would  rather  not  go  into  our  own  details, 
which  would  not  fit  into  other  States,  and  I  do  not  feel  like  taking  the 
time.  If  you  think  that  any  phase  of  our  work  would  apply  to  the 
question  at  large  I  should  be  glad  to  discuss  that,  of  course. 

Mr.  Sandles.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  happen  to  know  that  Mr.  Pearson 
has  accomplished  a  whole  lot  for  the  State  of  New  York  by  his 
bureau  up  there  for  farm  labor,  and  I  believe  that  those  here  would 
be  interested  in  knowing  that  great  good  can  come  from  that  move- 
ment. 

Mr.  Harris.  Let  us  hear  about  it. 

Mr.  Packer.  What  method  do  you  use  in  turning  over  inquiries  to 
those  who  are  handling  lands? 

Mr.  Pearson.  Well,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  will  try  to  cover  it  in  about 
two  minutes. 


COKTBRENOE  OP  STATE  OFFICIALS.  67 

Our  work  is  divided  into  two  parts,  one  relating  to  farm  labor  and 
the  other  to  farm  lands.  We  issue  bulletins  listing  farms  that  may  be 
purchased  at  reasonable  prices  throughout  our  State,  and  we  dis- 
tribute these  bulletins  in  very  large  numbers.  We  secure  a  great 
deal  of  publicity  concerning  these  bulletins  through  the  press.  The 
editors  are  generally  interested  in  the  proposition,  of  course.  A  very 
large  number  of  inquirers  call  at  the  office  of  the  department  at 
Albany,  or  at  our  branch  offices,  of  which  there  are  seven  or  eight 
throughout  the  State,  one  of  the  principal  ones  being  in  New  York 
City,  and  there  information  concerning  farms  is  placed  directly  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  are  interested,  and  at  times  experts  in  the  de- 
partment accompany  those  who  wish  to  buy  farms  to  points  where 
the  farms  are  located,  so  as  to  assist  them,  especially  if  they  are 
foreigners.  We  have  done  some  little  work  toward  colonizing  in 
some  sections. 

Now,  in  reference  to  farm  labor,  the  principal  part  of  that  work 
is  done  in  our  New  York  City  office,  and  Commissioner  Kracke,  who 
is  in  charge  of  that  office,  is  present.  We  receive  requests  from 
farmers  throughout  the  State  concerning  their  needs — the  number  of 
men,  kind  of  men,  term  of  employment,  wages  they  will  paj^,  experi- 
ence required,  etc.-  -and  then  we  scan  the  persons  who  are  available  in 
our  New  York  office.  Men  are  calling  there  constantly.  We  have  lists 
of  those  who  are  available.  We  are  cooperating  now  with  Mr.  Pow- 
derly's  division,  and  at  times  when  there  is  a  shortage  of  labor  in 
New  York  we  are  obliged  to  go  into  the  papers  in  New  York  City 
and  advertise.  When  we  find  a  man  who  is  wanted,  and  who  we 
believe  is  satisfactory  for  this  farmer,  we  take  the  money  which  the 
farmer  has  sent  and  buy  a  ticket  for  the  man  to  his  destination.  We 
send  our  own  man  to  the  station  with  him.  We  check  his  baggage 
for  him  as  an  accommodation  to  him,  but  we  retain  the  check  and 
send  it  by  mail  to  the  farmer,  and  when  the  man  reaches  the  other 
end  of  the  line  he  gets  his  baggage.    That  is  it  in  brief.    [Applause.] 

Mr.  Packer.  Mr.  Chairman,  ladies,  and  gentlemen,  I  represent 
Wis(^onsin.  I  did  not  come  prepared  to  speak  at  all.  The  Wisconsin 
State  Board  of  Immigration,  of  which  I  am  commissioner,  has  been 
in  existence  for  five  years.  We  issue  bulletins  under  the  State  seal, 
and  these  are  sent  broadcast  to  those  who  write  to  the  different 
departments  of  the  State  government  for  information  concerning 
agi'icultural  opportunities  in  Wisconsin.  The  Wisconsin  State 
Board  of  Immigration  is  made  up  of  the  dean  of  the  agricultural 
college,  the  president  of  the  State  board  of  agriculture,  and  the  sec- 
retary of  state,  and  I  work  under  their  directions,  and  hold  my  posi- 
tion subject  to  their  will. 

These  publications  which  we  issue,  we  send  to  inquirers  and  place 
in  the  hands  of  reliable  men  who  are  dealing  in  Wisconsin  land.    We 


58  DISTRIBUTION   OP  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

ask  them  to  report  to  us  sales  which  can  be  directly  traced  to  the 
booklets  and  pamphlets  which  we  send  out,  they  sending  us  the 
names  and  addresses  of  those  whom  they  have  persuaded  to  locate 
in  Wisconsin,  partly  through  the  instrup^entality  of  our  literature. 

For  my  own  information,  long  before  this  conference  was  called, 
and  in  order  to  find  out  what  other  States  were  doing,  I  instructed 
our  stenographer  to  write  all  the  State  boards  of  immigration,  in 
all  the  States,  letters  which  would  lead  these  immigration  agents  to 
believe  that  he  was  about  to  locate  in  their  State.  All  the  informa- 
tion that  we  received  is  carefuly  filed  away,  all  the  follow-up  system, 
and  all  the  pamphlets  and  other  literature.  The  result  of  the  in- 
vestigation is  very  interesting,  especially  that  feature  of  it  that  has 
to  do  with  turning  the  inquiries  over  to  those  who  are  dealing  in 
lands. 

Wisconsin  is  an  old  and  wealthy  State.  I  do  not  need  to  tell  you 
that.  Our  population  is  largely  from  northern  Europe — German, 
Scandinavian,  and  some  Polish.  And,  by  the  way,  the  Polish  have 
proven  to  be  very  good  citizens  with  us.  We  wish  to  cooperate  with 
the  national  department  in  every  way  we  can.  It  seems  that  our 
principal  cooperation  will  be  with  the  national  department.  It  may 
be  at  the  risk  of  seeming  narrow,  but  I  think  we  are  all  agreed  that 
the  interest  which  the  State  of  Louisiana  may  take  in  the  State  of 
Wisconsin  is  small.  The  States  are  competitive;  but  in  our  relation 
with  the  national  department  we  are  cooperative. 

The  plan  that  we  have  outlined  in  our  State  to  encourage  immigra- 
tion into  the  State,  and  to  keep  our  good  Scandinavian  and  German 
friends  from  going  to  other  States,  is  perhaps  different  from  that 
adopted  in  other  sections.  We  are  placarding  our  whole  State  with 
official  statistics  showing  Wisconsin's  rank  in  the  growth  of  crops. 
We  are  cooperating  with  the  bank  cashiers,  asking  them  to  put  our 
publications  into  the  hands  of  those  whom  they  know  contemplate 
going  to  other  sections,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  our  own  people 
what  the  resources  are  in  our  own  State.  Our  undeveloped  section 
is  about  11,000,000  acres,  of  which  2,000,000  perhaps  in  unavailable, 
or  unfit  for  farming  purposes.  The  balance,  about  9,000,000  acres,  is 
cut-over  land  in  the  central  and  northern  sections.  This  land  is  pur- 
chased at  prices  ranging  from  $8  to  $20  an  acre,  and  usually  costs 
to  clear  from  $10  to  $30,  sometimes  more,  per  acre.  The  State  is  in- 
terested in  the  clearing  up  of  these  lands,  and  under  the  Wisconsin 
law  the  counties  are  authorized  to  extend  a  system  of  credit  to  new 
settlers  for  land-clearing  purposes.  A  man  buying  a  piece  of  cut- 
over  land  can  make  application  to  the  county,  with  24  other  owners, 
and  the  county  is  authorized  to  make  him  a  loan  covering  a  period 
of  20  years,  if  they  see  fit,  at  a  low  rate  of  interest,  3J  or  4  per  cent, 
for  the  purpose  of  clearing  that  land,  with  the  understanding  that 


CONFEEENCB  OP  STATE  OFFICIALS.  69 

he  shall  receive  no  more  than  $25  per  acre.  The  money  so  loaned 
the  settler  becomes  a  first  lien  upon  the  land,  and  the  county  reim- 
burses itself  through  the  agency  of  a  bond  issu  .  with  the  understand- 
ing that  this  bond  issue  be  offered  for  local  subscription  before  being 
offered  to  outside  parties. 

The  landowners  in  Wisconsin  are  anxious  to  encourage  immigra- 
tion in  every  way.  They  are  willing  to  let  the  truth  be  known  about 
their  State  and  about  their  lands.  They  have  nothing  to  conceal, 
and  as  to  the  methods  of  settlement  the  landowners  in  Wisconsin  are 
offering  every  inducement  which  can  be  construed  as  reasonable. 
Parties  are  allowed  to  go  upon  the  land  with  an  initial  payment  of 
one-quarter  or  even  Jess.  The  large  lum.ber  companies  w^hich  hold 
a  great  portion  of  this  cut-over  land  are  willing  to  extend  long-time 
credit  on  lumber,  and  are  willing  to  help  out  the  man  who  shows  a 
disposition  to  come  in  and  make  good. 

As  to  the  agricultural  industries  of  the  State,  dairying,  of  course, 
is  our  principal  one.  With  New  York  we  are  neck  and  neck.  I  do 
not  know  to-day  which  State  is  ahead  in  the  value  of  its  dairy 
products.  Naturally,  I  say  Wisconsin,  and  I  suppose  Mr.  Pearson 
would  say  New  York. 

Mr.  Pearson.  Sure. 

Mr.  Packer.  But  I  came  down  here  to  find  out  methods  where- 
by we  can  increase  the  efficiency  of  our  department.  I  came  here 
for  suggestions.  The  State  of  Wisconsin  pays  my  expenses,  ex- 
pecting me  to  come  back  with  something  positive  and  something 
definite.  I  wish  to  know  how  I  can  increase  the  population  of  the 
State  of  Wisconsin.  I  do  not  assume  that  Mr.  Patek,  from  Colorado, 
is  interested  in  how  to  increase  population  in  the  State  of  Wiscon- 
sin, but  he  is  interested  in  the  State  of  Colorado,  and  the  methods 
that  we  can  determine  by  talking  these  things  over  should  be  valuable. 

I  have  found  that  the  librarians  of  the  State  are  good  agencies 
through  which  to  work.  We  are  like  the  minister  who  comes  into  a 
new  community  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  revival.  The  first 
thing  he  has  to  do  is  to  line  up  the  members  of  the  church  and  get 
them  into  good  working  order.  That  is  what  we  are  trying  to  do 
in  Wisconsin.  We  are  trying  to  convince  our  own  people  in  the 
southern  sections  of  the  opportunities  that  can  be  found  in  the  more 
undeveloped  parts.  We  are  doing  this  partly  through  the  agency 
of  the  public  librarians.  The  ladies  that  have  charge  of  the  libraries 
in  all  towns  receive  publications  from  our  department.  They  place 
them  on  the  reading  tables,  together  with  the  placards  which  we 
issue  showing  where  Wisconsin  stands  first  in  crop  yield.  Then 
these  librarians  report  to  us  the  results  of  this  distribution,  and  wo 
issue  many  hundreds,  yes,  thousands,  of  pamphlets  to  people  in  our 
own  State  through  the  agency  of  the  ladies  who  are  working  in  the 


60  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

public  libraries.  As  one  member  suggested  this  morning — the  gentle- 
man from  Maryland,  I  think  it  was — the  immigrant  from  the  old 
country  has  his  destination  pretty  much  in  mind  when  he  starts  out. 
We  have  tried  to  get  in  touch  with  the  German,  Scandinavian,  and 
Polish  colonies  in  Wisconsin.  We  have  written  to  all  the  county 
clerks  and  to  all  the  county  judges  asking  for  the  names  of  com- 
munity leaders,  those  who  are  more  or  less  prominent  in  their  own 
colonies.  We  have  written  these  men,  asking  them  to  send  us  names 
of  their  friends  and  relatives  who  are  living  in  Iowa  or  Illinois  or 
Texas,  or  any  other  State,  or  in  Europe — men  whom  they  believe 
would  be  interested  in  getting  publications  about  Wisconsin.  These 
we  try  to  follow  up.  We  use  the  card-index  system,  that  I  siippose 
is  used  by  most  of  the  States,  and  after  sending  our  own  publications 
we  send  the  man  who  is  interested  in  dairying  reports  from  the  dairy 
and  food  commissioner  and  to  the  man  who  is  interested  in  live 
stock  publications  from  different  live-stock-breeding  associations, 
private  enterprises.  The  inquiries  which  we  are  receiving  for  land 
in  Wisconsin  we  are  turning  over  to  a  development  organization, 
the  Wisconsin  Advancement  Association,  somewhat  similar  to  the 
California  Development  Board,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  find 
out.  This  is  a  large  association  of  landowners  who  are  anxious  Ihat 
the  truth  should  be  known  about  their  land,  are  willing  that  the 
truth  should  be  known  concerning  the  cost  of  clearing  it  up,  are 
willing  that  the  truth  should  be  known  concerning  the  great  crops 
which  can  be  raised.  We  try  to  keep  a  continuing  interest  in  Wis- 
consin through  the  agency  of  subsequent  letters  and  through  the  dis- 
tribution of  literature.  We  have  not  sufficient  funds  to  engage  in 
any  extensive  newspaper  advertising,  but  we  hope  for  it  in  the  near 
future. 

Our  agricultural  wealth  has  increased  substantially  since  live  stock 
became  the  great  industry  of  the  State — 74  per  cent  in  the  past 
decade.  In  fact,  our  most  prosperous  sections  are  those  engaged  in 
dairy  farming;  and  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  that  is  shown  by  the  last 
agricultural  census  in  this  way — that  better  farm  buildings  are  found 
in  dairy  districts  than  in  any  other  large  agricultural  areas.  We 
are  preaching  the  dairy  cow.  We  are  preaching  pure-bred  seeds. 
We  aim  to  interest  the  settler  after  he  comes  into  the  State  by  offer- 
ing to  put  him  in  touch  with  the  Wisconsin  Agricultural  College, 
which  we  consider  the  greatest  in  America,  and  to  assist  in  furnishing 
him  with  pure-bred  grain.  We  try  to  advise  him  as  to  the  nature 
of  farm  implements  that  are  needed  on  the  cut-over  lands  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  State. 

This  i-  n  rough  outline  of  our  work.  Gentlemen,  I  thank  you. 
[Applause.] 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  61 

Mr.  Daniels.  Mr.  Chairman,  will  the  speaker  kindly  tell  us 
whether  it  is  a  fact  that  in  a  good  many  parts  of  Wisconsin  Polish 
rural  and  agi'icultural  committees  have  sprung  up  of  pretty  good 
size,  some  of  them  large,  in  which  Polish  is  the  language  of  the  day, 
and  in  which  the  children  for  the  most  part  go  to  Polish  parochial 
schools  ? 

Mr.  Packer.  I  believe  I  can  answer  that  question.  For  eight 
years  I  lived  on  the  edge  of  one  of  the  largest  Polish  communities  in 
Wisconsin.  The  Polander  is  a  sticker.  If  he  puts  $5  into  a  farm, 
he  will  never  leave  the  $5.  [Laughter.]  He  is  pretty  sure  to  stay. 
And  he  loves  his  church.  One  of  the  first  steps  that  are  taken  is 
to  put  up  a  church  building.  I  know  of  an  instance  in  one  county 
where  a  church  was  built  in  a  community  of  probably  600  or  700 
Polish  families  that  cost  over  $40,000 — a  metropolitan  building  out 
on  cut-over  land.  The  Polander  is  an  industrious,  hard-working 
man.  With  him  it  is  a  case  of  everybody  works  with  father — 
mother,  children,  and  all — and  while  the  buildings  they  live  in  per- 
haps sometimes  look  shabby,  as  a  rule  they  are  warm  and  clean. 
What  general  feature  of  the  Polish  life  did  you  want  me  to  discuss? 

Mr.  Daniels.  Whether  these  colonies  remain  essentially  Polish 
for  an  indefinite  period,  Polish  being  the  prevailing  language  and 
children  going  mostly  to  the  parochial  rather  than  the  public  schools. 

Mr.  Packer.  That  is  largely  true.  The  Polander,  as  a  rule,  wants 
his  children  to  go  to  the  parochial  school. 

Mr.  Daniels.  Now,  there  are  two  or  three  other  questions  I  would 
like  to  ask.  First,  don't  you  think  that  from  a  civic  and  political 
point  of  view  the  growth  of  such  Polish  colonies  are  a  bad  thing  for 
the  State,  the  features  of  such  colonies  being  that  they  continue  to 
speak  Polish  and  do  not  come  into  the  public-school  system  ? 

Mr.  Packer.  The  Polander  is  an  industrious  producer.  He  is  a 
strong  factor  in  increasing  Wisconsin's  wealth.  That  is  a  very  broad 
question,  and  includes  a  great  many  considerations. 

Mr.  Daniels.  The  next  question  (which  I  will  join  right  to  that) 
is.  Has  your  department  yet  undertaken  any  work  to  Americanize 
those  colonies,  or  is  it  contemplating  any  such  work  ? 

Mr.  Packer.  I  don't  know  that  our  department  needs  to.  The 
work  of  Americanizing  the  Polander  who  misbehaves  is  largely  a 
question  for  the  justice  of  the  peace.  [Laughter.]  I  would  like  to 
go  into  detail  for  a  moment  on  that  matter.  The  notion  that  the 
Polander  is  an  undesirable  citizen  is  a  wrong  one.  The  second- 
growth  Polander  (if  I  may  use  that  term)  is  showing  up  very  favor- 
ably. Perhaps  he  may  not  be  quite  as  hard  a  worker  as  his  father  is — 
in  other  words,  he  has  become  Americanized.  [Laughter.]  But  we 
want  all  the  Polish  people  we  can  get,  every  one. 


62  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

Mr.  Harris.  Are  they  taught  Polish  in  the  parochial  schools,  or 
English? 

Mr.  Packer.  They  are  taught  Polish  and  English,  and  in  some 
schools  German. 

Mr.  Patek.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  I  represe.it  the  great 
and  glorious  State  of  Colorado,  and  you  will  know  that  my  name  is 
Bohemian.  It  was  sometime  in  the  forties,  I  think,  that  my  folks 
were  driven  from  the  old  country  and  came  to  Milwaukee,  and  I 
know  something  about  conditions  in  that  town,  because  I  was  born 
and  raised  there.  I  was  educated  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin, 
and  I  am  of  the  second  generation,  gentlemen.  [Laughter.]  I  want 
to  say  to  you — and  I  say  this,  Mr.  Powderly,  just  at  the  beginning  of 
my  remarks,  because  I  am  going  to  tell  you  about  the  great  and 
glorious  State  of  Colorado  in  just  a  minute — I  want  to  say  to  you 
that  in  the  year  1883,  after  a  period  of  terrible  starvation,  Ireland 
poured  its  weakened  hordes  upon  the  American  shores,  and  the 
second  generation,  I  think,  sits  there  [indicating  the  Chairman],  and 
is  represented  all  over  the  country.    [Laughter.] 

I  remember  reading  that  during  the  old  "  Know-nothing  "  period 
there  was  in  Washington  or  Baltimore  a  man  named  Levin,  the  lead- 
ing spirit  of  the  old  "  Know-nothing  "  period,  and  he  talked  just  as 
some  of  you  have  talked  here  to-day  against  foreigners.  That  was 
in  the  fifties;  and  in  1861 — I  am  not  sure  of  my  percentages — but  I 
think  48  per  cent  of  the  armies  of  the  North  and  South  were  either 
foreigners  or  the  sons  of  foreigners,  who  shed  their  blood  that 
this  country  might  not  be  separated. 

Mr.  Pearson.  Will  the  gentleman  allow  an  interruption? 

Mr.  Patek.  Yes. 

Mr.  Pearson.  I  do  not  think  any  feeling  has  been  manifested 
against  foreigners,  and  I  do  not  think  the  impression  should  go  out 
that  there  has  been  talk  against  foreigners. 

Mr.  Patek.  Yes;  there  has  been  talk  here,  and  I  am  simply  object- 
ing to  the  methods  we  are  adopting.  These  people  educate  their 
children  in  German.  We  were  compelled  to  study  German  in  the 
schools  of  Milwaukee,  just  as  those  children  Mr.  Packer  tells  about 
study  Polish.  I  heard  some  remarks  here  against  Italians  who  live 
in  box  cars.  We  ourselves  create  those  conditions;  our  railroad?  and 
other  employers  are  creating,  those  conditions.  These  men  would  live 
in  better  eruditions  if  we  would  legislate  to  create  those  conditions; 
legislate  just  as  Miss  Kellor  says  they  are  legislating  in  New  York 
State.  We  can  legislate  in  the  West,  or  wherever  these  foreigners 
are,  and  create  better  conditions,  and  then  these  men  will  seem  more 
palatable  to  us.  To  me  a  foreigner  is  simply  the  embodiment  of  the 
human  being  who  is  looking  for  freedom,  and  I  say  that  there  should 
not  in  this  meeting  or  in  any  meeting  of  Americans  be  one  word 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  63 

uttered  against  the  man  who  has  sought  our  shores  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  himself  and  his  posterity  a  better  place  to  live  in.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

That  is  all  I  want  to  say  on  that  score.  I  simply  want  to  see  if 
we  can  not  change  the  trend  of  the  discussion  when  we  are  talking 
of  foreigners,  and  simply  take  our  hats  off  to  the  spirit  that  brought 
them  here. 

I  want  to  say  that  Mr.  Pearson,  I  think,  struck  the  keynote  of  the 
purpose  of  this  meeting,  and  that  is  to  find  out  how  we  can  cooperate 
with  the  Federal  department.  I  do  not  quite  agree  with  him  in  his 
method.  I  think  it  is  cumbersome  to  some  extent.  I  think  it  would 
not  permit  of  easy  fulfillment  or  carrying  out ;  but  I  do  think  there 
are  certain  centers  in  the  United  States — Omaha,  St.  Paul,  Kansas 
City,  New  Orleans 

Mr.  Ross.  Don't  forget  Chicago,  now. 

Mr.  Patek.  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  such  centers  as  that • 

Mr.  Haines  of  Utah.  Salt  Lake  City. 

Mr.  Patek.  I  should  say  Salt  Lake  City;  yes.  As  I  say,  in  each 
of  these  centers  I  believe  that  the  Federal  department  should  estab- 
lish a  large  office — without  any  pillars,  by  the  way.  Keep  away  from 
the  pillars  and  anything  that  looks  as  though  it  were  magnificent. 
In  fact,  I  would  have  'dobe  huts  out  west,  so  that  those  men  could  be 
sure  that  they  were  going  to  meet  with  a  kindly  reception ;  nothing  to 
make  them  feel  that  they  were  going  into  a  great  mass  of  red  tape 
when  they  enter.  The  psychic  end  of  it  ought  to  be  considered.  We 
ought  to  think  of  the  mind  of  that  man  who  is  coming  into  the  place, 
and  it  must  be  a  simple  place,  a  place  where  he  feels  he  is  going  to 
meet  his  like.  I  do  not  think  that  remark  of  the  gentleman  from 
Baltimore  was  at  all  misplaced.  I  think  it  was  a  wise  remark,  and  I 
think  the  reason  they  had  to  give  up  this  place  in  Baltimore  was  the 
best  evidence  that  he  is  right  and  that  I  am  right. 

I  would  have  a  Federal  official  in  charge,  with  one  or  two  inter- 
preters— men  who  can  speak  four  or  five  languages,  principally  the 
German  and  the  Slav  languages — and  I  would  give  to  every  western 
State  and  to  every  eastern  State  and  to  every  State  in  the  Union  the 
right  to  appoint  a  well-informed  citizen  of  that  State  to  be  there  at 
all  times  to  give  information  as  to  the  opportunities  for  labor  and 
investment  in  small  and  large  farms  in  that  State. 

Let  us  see  how  that  would  work  out.  I  will  suppose  for  a  moment 
that  that  bureau  has  been  established  in  Chicago,  which  is  the  great 
western  center.  I  will  suppose  that  it  is  on  State  Street,  in  a  very 
large  building,  on  the  ground  floor — quite  a  large  storeroom.  The 
entire  storeroom  should  be  arranged  so  that  each  State  might  have 
a  booth  in  which  possibly  it  might  show  some  of  its  products  and  in 
which  it  would  have  literature  in  several  languages,  all  very  simply 


64  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

translated  so  that  the  simple  mind  can  grasp  it.  And  I  want  to  tell 
you  right  here  that  literature  is  not  the  only  thing  with  these  people. 
The  main  point  is  to  get  in  touch  with  them  personally,  individually. 
Half  of  them  may  be  able  to  read  their  own  language,  but  as  a  rule 
they  can  not  grasp  the  American  atmosphere;  they  can  not  grasp 
what  we  try  to  get  into  the  translation.  You  must  remember  that 
they  were  born  in  a  different  country,  in  a  different  atmosphere, 
which  makes  it  quite  a  difficult  thing  for  them  to  come  here  and  grasp 
the  atmosphere  of  any  of  our  States.  So  I  say  the  literature  is  not  the 
important  thing;  it  is  the  personal  element  that  is  the  important 
thing.  The  idea  is  to  get  into  close  touch  with  this  poor  fellow  who 
is  standing  there  and  who  has  got  $250  or  $300  in  his  pocket  and  who 
says,  "  I  want  to  go  on  some  land ;  I  want  to  buy  a  little  truck  farm 
somewhere."  Well,  there  is  the  man  who  has  got  the  information. 
He  is  plainly  dressed,  and  he  begins  to  talk  to  this  fellow.  Next  to 
him  stands  the  interpreter,  and  he  interprets  the  whole  thing.  This 
interpreter  probably  comes  from  this  man's  own  country.  He  is 
talking  to  his  own  kind,  so  to  speak.  So  in  a  few  minutes  he  says, 
"  This  is  the  place  I  am  going  to ;  what  does  it  cost  to  get  there  ?  " 
And  when  you  get  him  there  you  can  put  him  into  good  hands — into 
the  hands  of  the  State  bureau. 

In  that  way,  to  my  mind,  we  can  effect  a  close  cooperation  between 
the  Federal  department  and  these  various  State  departments,  and  I 
would  make  a  suggestion  that  something  of  that  character  be  done. 
I  do  think,  too,  that  the  remark  made  by  Secretary  Nagel,  in  that 
magnificent  address  of  his  this  morning,  that  the  farmer  should  be 
considered  a  skilled  laborer,  should  be  put  into  a  resolution  by  your 
resolutions  committee  and  passed  unanimously  by  this  body. 
[Applause.]     I  thank  you. 

Mr.  Daniels.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  that  the  gentleman  from 
Colorado  who  has  just  spoken  misinterpreted  the  tenor  of  my  ques- 
tions regarding  foreigners.  I  am  unwilling  to  take  a  second  place 
to  any  one  in  appreciation  of  the  splendid  latent  qualities  of  these 
foreign  immigrants.  The  point  of  those  questions  which  I  v/as  ask- 
ing was  to  try  to  bring  out  the  fact  that  at  present  we  are  not  doing 
full  justice  to  these  foreigners;  we  are  not  giving  effective  expres- 
sion to  the  good  will  so  well  expressed  by  the  last  speaker,  and  we 
are  not  doing  full  justice  to  ourselves. 

Now,  Wisconsin,  about  which  I  happen  to  know  more,  perhaps, 
than  about  most  other  States  in  the  Union,  represents  a  condition 
which  some  of  these  other  States  which  are  represented  here  to-day, 
demanding  more  immigrants,  may  reach  in  10  or  15  years.  A  num- 
ber of  these  other  States  represented  here  have  next  to  no  foreign 
immigrants  to-day.  On  the  other  hand,  Wisconsin  has  a  good  many. 
So  far,  so  good.     But  there  have  grown  up  in  Wisconsin  a  large 


*  CONFERENCE  OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  65 

number  of  these  Polish  colonies  particularly,  where  Polish  is  the 
prevailing  language,  and  where  the  children  are  entirely  outside  of 
the  public-school  system.  Now,  while  these  Poles  make  splendid 
farmers,  yet  so  long  as  those  other  conditions  prevail,  particularly 
the  use  of  the  Polish  language  (because  I  have  no  objection  at  all 
to  the  Catholic  system  of  education),  they  are  not  Americans,  and 
therefore,  while  the  State  has  gained  in  an  agricultural  way,  it  has 
not  gained  in  a  civic  and  political  way.  The  agricultural  gain  has 
most  certainly  been  offset  by  a  civic  and  political  loss. 

As  I  said,  Wisconsin  is  in  the  condition  to-day  in  which  many 
other  States  may  be  in  10  or  15  years  from  to-day.  New  York  State 
is,  we  will  say,  half  a  century  ahead  of  Wisconsin,  and  not  only  has 
these  small  foreign  colonies,  but  has  foreign  colonies  of  tremendous 
size.  In  Buffalo,  for  instance,  there  is  a  Polish  colony  of  80,000 
people.  Forty  years  ago  that  Polish  colony  consisted  of  only  a  few 
hundred  people,  but  a  church  was  built,  just  as  those  churches  are 
being  built  in  Wisconsin,  and  the  Poles  clustered  around  that,  and 
now  there  are  10  churches  with  80,000  Poles  living,  for  the  most 
part,  in  one  section  of  the  city  and  absolutely  cut  off  from  the  rest 
of  the  city.  Now,  Buffalo  is  trying  to  make  up  for  these  40  years 
of  lost  time  and  is  making  heroic  efforts  to  bring  Americanizing  in- 
fluences to  bear  upon  that  colony  to  make  good  citizens  of  those 
Poles,  because  for  all  practical  purposes  of  good  citizenship  to-day — ■ 
voting  and  taking  an  interest  in  public  affairs — nine  out  of  every 
ten  of  those  Poles  might  just  as  well  be  counted  out  and  disregarded. 
Buffalo  is  trying  to  bring  the  other  nine  into  line  and  make  good 
citizens  of  them. 

Now,  the  point  of  all  this  is  as  follows:  When  these  various  im- 
migration boards  in  the  various  States  undertake  to  get  additional 
immigrants,  and  when  States  at  present  without  any  immigration 
boards  institute  such  boards  to  get  additional  immigrants,  will  it 
not  be  highly  advisable  at  the  same  time  for  those  States  to  begin 
making  provision  for  the  Americanizing  of  those  foreigners  as  they 
come  in?  If  they  fail  to  do  that,  will  they  not  find  themselves  10 
or  15  years  hence  with  almost  insuperable  problems  on  their  hands  ? 
Will  they  not  be  obliged  10  years  hence  to  expend  at  least  10  times 
the  money  that  they  will  have  to  expend  if  they  do  this  work  from 
the  very  beginning;  instead  of  letting  the  problems  grow  up  and 
then  solving  them,  forestall  them,  anticipate  them,  prevent  them 
from  growing  up? 

The  New  York  State  Bureau  of  Industries  and  Immigration  is,  so 

far  as  I  know,  the  only  State  bureau  which  is  attempting  not  only 

labor  distribution  throughout  the  State,  but  also  Americanization. 

Something  has  already  been  said  of  that  bureau.     Certain  of  the 

23508°— 12 ^5 


66  DISTKIBUTTON   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND   OTHiflS. 

laws  the  passage  of  which  it  has  secured  have  been  mentioned.  But, 
in  a  word,  what  that  bureau  is  trying  to  do  is,  first,  to  enforce  all 
existing  laws  for  the  protection  of  immigrants,  so  that  they  are  not 
exploited  and  in  that  way  made  hostile  to  the  American  community ; 
and,  secondly,  by  a  thoroughgoing  study  of  the  immigration  situation 
to  secure  the  passage  of  such  new  laws  as  are  needed  for  the  protec- 
tion of  those  immigrants  and  for  their  Americanization.  It  is  pro- 
posed this  winter  to  introduce  a  bill  enabling  the  State  to  establish 
State  schools  in  such  places  as  labor  camps  and  foreign  communities 
around  canning  factories,  around  quarries,  and  around  mines.  Where 
there  are  groups  of  these  foreigners  that  are  at  present  completely 
isolated,  under  no  Americanizing  influences  whatever,  it  is  proposed 
that  the  State  shall  establish  schools  and  that  the  attendance  of  the 
children  of  these  laborers  shall  be  compulsory.  This  bureau  is  under- 
taking constructive  work  of  that  sort. 

So  that  it  seems  to  me,  taking  up  the  suggestion  which  Commis- 
sioner Pearson,  of  New  York,  has  made,  that  this  gathering  get  down 
to  a  definite  tangible  proposition  and  work  out  a  scheme  of  coopera- 
tion for  labor  distribution  between  the  States  and  this  Division  of 
Information;  that  the  second  part  of  the  tangible  proposition  to 
which  we  should  get  down  is  this :  How,  at  the  same  time,  the  various 
States  in  cooperation  with  the  division  may  begin  building  up  an 
adequate  machinery  for  Americanizing  these  foreigners  as  they 
come  in;  and  I  would  propose  that,  while  Mr.  Pearson's  proposition 
is  probably  the  immediate  one  for  discussion,  this  other  one  of  Ameri- 
canization and  assimilation  be  kept  in  mind  all  the  time,  and  that 
this  conference  do  not  dissolve  without  discussing  that  matter  and 
passing  some  resolution  regarding  it.     [Applause.] 

The  Chairman.  We  have  a  committee  on  resolutions.  It  is  now  a 
quarter  after  4.  That  committee,  it  seems  to  me,  should  now  have 
something  to  work  on. 

Mr.  Pearson.  Mr.  President,  will  you  allow  me  half  a  minute  ? 

The  Chairman.  Certainly. 

Mr.  Pearson.  One  of  the  speakers  referred  to  his  connection  with 
labor  organizations.  I  was  very  much  pleased  to  hear  that,  because 
I  have  great  admiration  for  much  of  the  work  which  the  labor  organi- 
zations are  doing;  and  a^  he  is  here,  he  is  probably  posted  as  to  the 
attitude  of  the  labor  organizations  concerning  the  important  ques- 
tion that  Secretary  Nagel  raised  this  morning,  and  I  wish  to  ask  him 
if  he  will  tell  us  what  that  attitude  would  be.  Is  it  probable  that 
labor  organizations  would  oppose  legislation  which  would  be  cal- 
culated to  admit  the  trained  farmer,  such  as  the  Secretary  sug- 
gested to  us? 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  Under  contract,  I  believe  they  would.  They 
are  opposed  to  taking  in  any  labor  under  contract. 


CONFEKENCE  OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  67 

Mr.  Trenor.  That  comes  under  the  head  of  immigration  questions. 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  Any  State  welcomes  a  good  farmer;  but  to 
bring  them  in  under  contract  to  work  on  a  farm,  when  the  farmer 
possibly  can  not  keep  them  more  than  a  month  or  two,  might  turn 
out  to  be  only  a  subterfuge.  If  the  farmer  could  guarantee  employ- 
ment the  year  round,  I  suppose  there  would  not  be  a  great  deal  of 
objection  to  it;  but  they  want  them  for  four  or  five  months  in  the 
year  and  then  they  are  through  with  them.  So  I  think  the  labor 
organizations  would  strenuously  oppose  it. 

The  Chairman.  Happily  we  are  not  confronted  by  that  problem 
in  and  way  whatever.  The  Division  of  Information  meets  the  man 
after  he  is  regularly  and  duly  qualified  to  enter  the  country.  Before 
that  we  can  neither  send  for  him,  advertise  for  him  to  come,  or  meet 
him  halfway.  He  has  to  be  examined  and  duly  admitted  to  this 
country,  and  then  we  meet  him,  but  not  before.  So  that  the  only  time 
we  have  anything  to  do  with  him  is  after  he  is  in. 

Mr.  Pearson.  Will  you  allow  me  one  more  question,  Mr.  Chair- 
man? 

The  Chairman.  Certainly. 

Mr.  Pearson.  Did  I  not  understand  Secretary  Nagel  to  say  that  he 
favored  making  it  easier  for  the  trained  farmer  to  come  in  ? 

The  Chairman.  Oh,  yes ;  I  think  he  did. 

Mr.  Pearson.  That  is  a  question  which,  it  seems  to  me,  concerns 
us  very  much  here. 

The  Chairman.  I  know;  but  that  is  an  immigration  question. 
We  are  discussing  distribution.  That  is  another  matter  entirely.  It 
was  in  passing,  of  course,  that  he  said  that. 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  It  was  not  intended  that  any  action  should  be 
taken  by  this  conference,  though  ? 

The  Chairman.  I  doubt  it.  Now,  as  I  said,  the  committee  on 
resolutions  should  have  time  to  act,  and  I  do  not  know  that  they 
would  care  to  hold  a  night  session.  I  know  the  chairman  of  the 
committee  is  willing  to  work  as  long  as  she  is  able,  and  I  would  ask 
you  what  you  think  about  giving  them  time  to  take  the  various 
subjects  under  discussion  and  prepare  something  for  to-morrow 
morning. 

Mr.  Haynes  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  to  suggest  that 
the  committee  on  resolutions,  of  which  I  am  a  member,  might  be 
better  qualified  to  perform  its  duties  after  having  listened  to  further 
discussion  of  this  subject.  I  believe  that  further  discussion  will  also 
produce  other  resolutions.  As  far  as  I  am  concerned,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  that  committee,  I  would  like  to  have  a  little  more  light  on 
some  phases  of  the  subject  before  attempting  to  pass  on  resolutions 
heretofore  presented. 


68  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

Mr.  Saddles.  Mr.  Chairman,  just  a  word  or  two.  I  have  to  leave 
to-night. 

I,  too,  think  that  Commissioner  Pearson,  of  New  York,  struck  the 
keynote  when  he  said  that  the  main  question  before  this  conference 
was  how  we  are  going  to  meet  a  long- felt  want.  I  fear  that  some  of 
us  have  done  a  little  too  much  talking  and  have  not  made  our  chair- 
man here  do  enough  talking.  Mr.  Powderly  sent  his  representative 
to  Ohio  to  confer  with  Gov.  Harmon  about  this  question,  and  the 
governor  in  turn  referred  Mr.  McGrew  to  myself  as  secretary  of 
agriculture  in  Ohio.  We  talked  over  this  question  and  Mr.  McGrew 
said  that  this  department  here  would  gladly  cooperate  with  any  offi- 
cial head  of  department  in  Ohio  in  the  effort  to  supply  farm  laborers. 
In  order  to  be  sure  we  needed  that,  as  I  told  you  this  afternoon,  we 
had  a  law  passed  by  the  legislature,  which  went  through  unanimously, 
requiring  our  township  assessors  to  gather  this  information,  and  we 
were  surprised  at  the  demand  of  the  farmers  for  more  labor.  After 
we  had  that  our  board  of  agriculture  met  and  authorized  the  instal- 
lation of  a  farm-labor  bureau.  In  pursuance  thereof  I  came  down 
to  Washington  and  had  a  conference  with  Mr.  Powderly  and  he  as- 
sured me  that  his  division  would  gladly  cooperate  with  Ohio,  and  he 
asked  me  to  go  on  and  see  Mr.  Green,  the  inspector  at  New  York 
City.  I  went  down  there  and  had  a  long  talk  with  him.  I  went 
over  and  visited  Ellis  Island  and  I  saw  the  foreigners  coming  in.  I 
had  heard  of  the  good  work  being  done  for  New  York  State  by  Com- 
missioner Pearson.  I  went  up  and  had  a  conference  with  him  and 
learned  something  about  the  work  he  is  doing,  and  I  know  that  it  is 
possible  to  do  a  lot  of  good  work.  After  returning  to  Columbus  the 
newspapers  got  hold  of  the  fact  that  we  were  organizing  a  farm-labor 
bureau  to  supply  the  demand  of  the  farmers  for  farm  labor. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  you  are  perhaps  more  nearly  the  father  of 
that  movement  than  anybody  else.  We  have  hundreds  of  letters 
coming  in  to  our  department  asking  for  farm  laborers,  and  now  what 
we  want  you  to  tell  us  is  how  to  meet  that  demand  and  answer  those 
questions.     I  believe  that  is  what  you  are  here  for. 

I  am  going  to  ask  this  question :  How  many  here  to-day  came  for 
the  purpose  of  learning  how  to  supply  farm  laborers  for  your  re- 
spective States?  Kindly  hold  up  your  hands.  [After  a  pause.]  I 
see  the  most  of  you.  Now,  I  would  like  to  go  back  to  my  Slate  with 
some  definite  instructions  as  to  how  to  proceed  to  supply  this  demand. 
We  have  started  the  ball  rolling  out  in  Ohio  and  we  have  got  to  keep 
it  going.  I  would  like  to  know  from  Mr.  Powderly  what  he  thinks 
the  Government  can  do  and  how  far  it  can  go.  I  believe  that  the 
States  have  a  right  to  look  to  the  Government  for  some  aid  and  sup- 
port in  this  matter.  As  Secretary  Nagel  told  you  this  morning,  the 
Government  has  supreme  control  of  immigration  and  naturalization, 


CONFERENCE   OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  69 

and  I  am  not  sure  but  that  the  suggestion  of  the  gentleman  from 
Colorado  was  a  pretty  good  one,  to  have  headquarters  at  New  York 
for  at  least  the  Middle  West  and  Eastern  States  and  perhaps  some- 
where else  for  the  Western  States,  where  each  State  could  be  repre- 
sented. And  I  am  not  sure  but  what  Uncle  Sam  ought  to  pay  the 
expense  of  one  person  from  each  State  to  support  that  kind  of  a 
bureau.  Uncle  Sam,  after  all,  is  the  biggest  stockholder  in  the  wel- 
fare of  this  country. 

We  want  the  foreigner  to  come  here.  We  want  him  to  be  useful 
after  he  gets  here.  Somebodj?-  has  said  that  America  is  half  brother 
of  the  world,  with  something  good  and  something  bad  from  every 
land ;  and  all  of  us,  if  we  would  trace  our  ancestry  away  back  yonder 
somewhere,  would  find  our  forefathers  buried  in  the  soil  of  Europe. 
We  should  not  shut  out  these  people.  We  need  them,  and  they  want 
to  come.  Now,  the  question  is.  How  can  we  best  use  them  and  take 
care  of  them  after  they  get  here?  I  believe  there  is  a  social  ques- 
tion there,  an  economic  question  there,  and  a  commercial  question, 
which  Uncle  Sam  can  well  afford  to  appropriate  money  to  help 
solve.  Uncle  Sam',  I  say,  is  the  biggest  stockholder  in  these  ques- 
tions, and  it  is  his  business  to  see  to  it  that  the  food  supply  and  the 
army  of  producers  is  replenished.  Just  now  it  is  being  diminished. 
Everywhere  we  find  our  great  cities  increasing  and  the  rural  dis- 
tricts decreasing.  We  have  a  bigger  army  of  consumers  to-day  in 
America  than  we  ever  had  before,  and  I  am  not  sure  but  what  we 
have  a  smaller  number  of  producers  than  we  ever  had  before.  As 
James  J.  Hill  has  said,  we  don't  want  a  Nation  here  that  can't  feed 
itself.  That  being  true,  Uncle  Sam  can  well  afford  to  take  up  and 
help  solve  this  problem,  and  I  would  like  to  have  the  chairman  tell 
us  how  far,  in  his  judgment.  Uncle  Sam  can  go  and  what  are  some 
of  the  restrictions  under  the  present  law  to  prevent  him  from  doing 
it.  Then  when  we  find  out  the  objections  to  these  things,  let  us  ask 
Congress  to  be  more  liberal  and  help  us  out.  I  believe  the  question 
of  "  how  "  is  the  great  big  question,  and  not  what  our  individual 
States  are  doing  or  what  they  need.  Let  us  demand  of  Uncle  Sam 
that  he  help  us  to  solve  these  problems  out  here  in  our  own  States. 
I  do  know  that  it  is  an  intense  question  out  in  Ohio  how  to  get  more 
farm  labor,  and  I  am  willing  for  Uncle  Sam  to  help  solve  that  ques- 
tion. I  am  satisfied  that  we  will  get  a  whole  lot  more,  because  I 
understand  most  foreigners  who  come  into  New  York  want  to  come 
to  Ohio,  but  Commissioner  Pearson  has  some  fellows  there  who  will 
stand  around  and  ask  them  where  they  are  going,  and  they  will  say, 
"  Why,  Ohio,"  and  Commissioner  Pearson  says,  "All  right ;  come  on ; 
we  will  show  you  the  way,"  and  up  here  in  New  York  some  place 
they  have  a  signboard  nailed  up  on  one  of  the  railroad  switches  with 
"  Ohio  "  on  it,  and  they  will  take  them  there  and  unload  them  and 


70  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

say,  "  Here  is  Ohio !  "  [Laughter.]  I  understand  they  take  that 
switchboard  sign  around  to  different  parts  of  the  State  wherever 
they  want  to  land  them.  [Laughter.]  I  would  like  to  have  this 
conference  go  on  record  and  ask  Mr.  Pearson  how  to  do  that  thing. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  want  to  say  that  I  appreciate  the  intense 
interest  of  Mr.  Powderly  in  this  question.  I  am  glad  he  has  made 
a  study  of  it  and  knows  something  about  the  needs  of  the  States,  and 
I  hope  all  of  you  will  take  him  by  the  hand  and  thank  him  for 
calling  us  here.  I  believe  this  is  a  good  meeting.  I  want  to  com- 
pliment him  upon  the  splendid  and  concise  statement  which  he  made 
this  morning  in  opening  this  conference.  We  ought  to  recognize 
true  worth  in  the  men  who  are  trying  to  help  us  in  this  line.  I  have 
been  trying  to  tell  our  people  in  Ohio  of  the  good  work  that  Mr. 
Powderly  is  doing,  and  it  has  got  started  there.  The  demand  is 
coming  into  our  office.  They  have  found  out — which  they  never 
knew  before — some  place  to  ask  for  this  farm  labor,  and  they  are 
asking  us  because  they  have  learned  that  we  have  a  farm-labor 
bureau.  Now,  Mr.  Powderly,  for  God's  sake,  help  us  take  care  of 
the  child  that  you  gave  birth  to  out  in  Ohio.     [Laughter.] 

The  Chairman.  Gentlemen,  the  task  of  being  a  midwife  to  a  child 
that  you  got  somewhere  out  in  the  country  is  rather  a  difficult  one. 

Mr.  Sandles.  You  don't  deny  it,  do  you  ? 

The  Chairman.  I  never  deny  anything.  [Laughter.]  That  was 
one  of  my  strong  points  all  through  life — never  to  deny  anything, 
no  matter  how  bad  it  was,  that  was  ever  said  of  me.  The  consequence 
is  that  most  people  have  forgotten  it.  They  would  not  if  I  had 
denied  it.  [Laughter.]  I  can't  do  what  you  say.  I  can't  tell  you 
how.    I  can  only  offer  some  suggestions. 

Mr.  Sandles.  How  much  money  have  you  got  for  it? 

The  Chairman.  We  haven't  any.  I  think  our  last  allotment  was 
about  $500  for  printing.  We  want  your  help  to  get  more.  That  is 
the  first  thing  I  have  on  this  card — a  larger  appropriation. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  would  it  not  be  in  order  for  you  to  at 
least  assist  this  committee  on  resolutions  if  you  can  not  be  one  of  the 
members? 

The  Chairman.  I  will  just  give  this  little  card  to  the  committee 
on  resolutions. 

I  have  listened  to  the  remarks,  gentlemen,  all  day,  and  I  am  glad 
that  I  called  you  together.  I  have  learned  a  lot.  We  all  have.  We 
will  know  each  other  better  when  we  adjourn,  and  the  States  will 
be  in  a  better  frame  of  mind  to  cooperate  with  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment after  you  go  away  from  here. 

I  don't  like  to  hear  anything  said  against  the  immigrant,  no  matter 
who  he  is.  I  was  at  a  meeting  not  long  ago  and  I  was  asked,  "  How 
much  of  the  criminal  population  of  this  country  comes  from  immi- 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  tl 

gration?"  Everybody  pricked  up  their  ears.  I  said,  "All  of  it." 
[Laughter.]  "  All  of  it."  Then  there  was  a  look  of  consternation 
on  some  faces,  then  I  followed  it  by  saying,  "And  also  all  the  virtue 
and  goodness  we  have  in  this  country ;  for  we  are  not  North  American 
Indians,  and  he  is  the  only  real  simon-pure  American  we  have  got." 
[Laughter  and  applause.]  Don't  let  us  run  away  with  the  idea  that 
because  our  fathers  were  fortunate  enough  to  get  here  in  time  to  make 
Americans  of  us  by  birth  we  are  better  than  anybody  else.  We  have 
a  lot  to  learn  from  the  peoples  of  the  Old  World,  and  we  should  not 
say  anything  about  even  what  we  call  the  meanest  of  them,  because 
there  is  good  in  every  man.    It  is  our  duty  to  find  it. 

We  have  held  out  to  the  whole  world  for  over  a  century  an  invita- 
tion to  come  here.  Did  we  mean  it?  And  if  we  meant  it,  then  that 
invitation  should  go  a  little  further.  To  every  man  who  comes  we 
give  a  promise — life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  Do  we 
mean  it?  If  we  don't,  let  us  reverse  all  we  have  been  saying  for 
over  a  century  and  then  say  to  them,  "  Don't  come." 

Now  they  are  here.  We  do  not  deal  with  the  ones  who  are  coming, 
but  only  with  those  who  have  arrived.  And,  having  arrived,  it  is 
our  duty  to  take  them  by  the  hand  and  show  them  what  we  have  got, 
and  show  them  quick. 

I  believe  we  should  have,  first,  a  large  enough  appropriation  to 
cover  these  things ;  second,  a  branch  office  of  the  Division  of  Informa- 
tion in  all  the  large  cities,  or,  if  necessary,  one  in  each  State,  and  in 
that  branch  office  a  representative  side  by  side  with  the  representative 
of  the  organization  having  to  do  with  immigration,  labor,  and  dis- 
tribution in  that  State — side  by  side,  so  that  when  the  information  is 
collected  by  the  State  authorities  it  can  be  turned  over  to  him.  He 
knows  it  is  genuine,  and  that  can  be  placed  before  anybody  with  a 
guaranty  that  it  is  true. 

Give  information  to  citizens  as  well  as  aliens.  Suppose,  for  in- 
stance, you  are  from  Pennsylvania,  and  you  go  to  Montana,  or  Wash- 
ington, or  California.  There  you  will  find  Pennsylvanians,  men  from 
the  State  that  you  were  born  in.  Who  sent  them  there?  The  im- 
migrants. They  came  in  such  numbers  that  the  Pennsylvanians  or 
New  Yorkers  picked  up  their  traps  and  went  west,  and  it  was  a 
mighty  good  thing  for  the  West  that  some  of  them  did.  Don't 
make  any  mistake  about  it. 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  New  York,  Ohio,  and  some  of  the  other 
States  in  the  East.  Their  best  men  were  driven  to  them  by  the  im- 
migrant. The  immigrant  has  been  a  distributing  agent  from  the 
very  beginning  of  this  country.  He  comes  from  the  old  country  and 
our  men  go  west  or  south.  So  that  it  is  only  right  that  when  these 
men  come  to  us  with  the  very  best  of  intentions,  to  earn  a  livihg  and 
to  improve  their  condition  in  life,  the  man  that  one  of  them  displaces 


72  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

should  be  given  information  as  to  where  to  better  his  condition  in 
case  he  has  to  go  away. 

We  should  have  a  representative  man  of  every  race — not  of  every 
race,  but  a  man  who  can  speak  the  language.  I  have  found  in  my 
dealing  with  immigrants  that  the  man  who  can  talk  to  them  in 
their  own  language  gets  them.  If  you  can  speak  his  language  he 
warms  up  to  you,  he  cuddles  up  to  you,  and  you  will  do  the  same 
yourself  when  you  go  abroad.  Try  it.  The  man  who  speaks  your 
language  is  the  man  you  will  tie  to.  I  do  not  think  it  is  fair  to  turn 
millions  of  people  into  the  streets  of  our  large  cities.  Of  course, 
we  are  not  responsible  for  their  coming.  We  are  not  responsible 
for  the  shark  that  they  meet  in  the  crowd,  but  we  are  responsible  if 
we  permit  that  shark  to  rob  them.  We  should  not  permit  it  to  be 
done.  We  should  see  that  they  are  not  made  the  prey  of  designing 
men  of  their  own  race  or  ours. 

One  word  about  labor  organizations.  The  labor  organization 
officer  who  opposes  this  Division  of  Information  does  not  quite  under- 
stand it.  That  is  all.  New  York  City  has  a  population  of  200,000 
out  of  work,  I  am  told,  all  the  time.  That  200,000  is  a  reservoir  of 
strike  breakers;  make  no  mistake  about  it;  and  if  the  immigrant 
has  displaced  the  American  citizen  and  made  him  an  idle  man  in  a 
city,  he  is  the  man  that  the  employer  will  go  to  when  he  wants  a 
strike  breaker.  He  does  not  go  to  the  immigrant.  He  goes  to  our 
own  citizen ;  and  if  you  notice  the  men  who  go  out  on  the  railroads 
to  do  the  work  when  there  are  strikes,  you  will  find  that  they  are  not 
men  who  speak  an  alien  tongue.  They  speak  our  own  language.  We 
should  direct  alien  arrival  and  citizen  to  where  they  shall  not  be 
called  on  to  take  any  man's  place. 

Now,  let  us  give  the  men  who  are  willing  to  go  on  the  land,  who  are 
willing  to  leave  the  large  cities  and  go  back  into  the  interior,  let  us 
give  them  the  information.  And  it  can  not  be  done  in  a  niggardly 
way.  This  is  a  big  Government.  We  have  done  lots  for  capital,  and 
I  am  glad  of  it;  we  have  done  lots  for  corporations,  and  I  am  glad 
of  it ;  because  it  has  helped  to  build  up  the  country.  But  we  do  want 
now  to  reach  out  and  take  these  resident  aliens  by  the  hand,  let  them 
know  that  they  are  welcome,  and  let  them  know  where  they  can  do  the 
best  for  themselves. 

And  we  should  not  stop  at  that.  I  contend  that  there  is  something 
else  for  us  to  do.  The  man  who  walks  up  to  the  polls  and  votes  by 
number  is  a  menace  to  everyone  of  you.  He  does  not  know  what  he 
is  doing.  The  man  who  works  for  cheap  wages  when  he  can  get  bet- 
ter wages  is  a  menace  to  everyone  of  you.  He  does  not  know  what  he 
is  doing.  We  should  teach  each  man  his  own  moral  and  economic 
worth  and  then  teach  him  to  become  a  citizen.  That  should  be  our 
first  consideration  after  he  comes  here.    I  would  like  to  call  your 


CONFERENCE   OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  73 

attention  to  the  work  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  E  evolution,  the 
national  society  that  has  taken  on  itself  the  work  of  supplying  the 
immigrant,  in  his  own  languege,  with  information  as  to  how  to  get 
along  and  what  things  to  do  first — these  little  simple  things.  They 
give  them  this  information  in  nearly  every  language,  and  they 
also  print  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  How  to 
Become  Naturalized,  in  English,  so  that  those  who  come  will  strive 
to  learn  English  just  as  soon  as  they  get  here.  The  Daughters 
of  the  American  Revolution  have  gotten  out  a  pamphlet  entitled 
Guide  to  American  Citizenship,  telling  them  what  to  do  when  they 
come  here.  They  are  working,  I  believe,  in  harmony  with  the  as- 
sociation that  Mr.  Daniels  represents;  at  least,  if  they  are  not,  they 
are  on  the  way. 

This,  in  brief,  is  the  thing  to  do.  You  can't  work  without  money. 
I  have  tried  it.  Let  me  tell  you  just  a  little.  One  man  here  charged 
me  with  being  Irish.  I  am  guilty — in  the  second  degree.  [Laugh- 
ter.] Another  one  said  I  was  born  since  1883.  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  I  was  not,  but  my  father  landed  at  Quebec  in  1827.  He  came 
over  on  a  vessel  that  carried  23  passengers — a  sailing  vessel.  They 
were  seven  weeks  on  the  way.  It  won't  hurt  you  to  know  this,  be- 
cause you  may  have  entertained  the  idea  that  I  was  an  Italian. 
[Laughter.]  That  vessel  was  the  Royal  George;  she  carried  23  pas- 
sengers; I  don't  know  what  her  tonnage  was,  or  whether  she  had 
a  tonnage.  He  landed  early  in  the  morning  at  Ogdensburg.  And  I 
want  to  say  that  it  was  a  good  thing  for  him  that  he  landed  in  the 
morning.  It  gave  him  all  day  to  look  for  work;  for  as  capital  he 
had  only  1  English  shilling.  He  did  not  know  how  to  read  or  write, 
but  he  was  6  feet  2  inches  tall ;  poor,  but  Irish.  He  found  work  with 
a  farmer  and  by  night  had  secured  employment.  People  came  for 
miles  to  see  him — an  Irishman — they  would  turn  away  right  in  his 
presence  and  say,  "  Why,  he  hasn't  got  hair  all  over  him ;  he  hasn't 
got  horns.  He  is  tame  enough  to  eat  bread  out  of  your  hand.  He 
isn't  wild."  And  when  I  hear  anything  derogatory  said  about  an 
Italian — a  "  dago  " — or  a  Pole,  or  a  Hungarian,  or  a  Russian,  or  an 
Englishman,  or  anybody  else,  inwardly  I  revolt.  I  do  not  want 
to  hear  it,  because  it  is  not  in  accord  with  American  sentiment. 
[Applause.] 

This  country  is  made  up,  not  of  the  worst,  but  the  best  that  comes 
to  us.  I  am  glad  that  Brother  Daniels  came  up  here  and  explained 
that,  because  I  would  not  want  anyone  to  feel  that  anybody  in  this 
convention  would  entertain  a  feeling  against  a  man  because  of  his 
race  or  his  religion.     That  has  all  been  cleared  away. 

Here  is  another  thing.  Seventy-eight  thousand  American  citizens 
have  gone  over  into  northwest  British  Columbia  during  the  last  year. 
I  am  not  talking  now  of  people  who  lived  in  this  country  and  did 


74  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHEBS. 

not  become  citizens,  but  78,000  citizens  have  left  us.  There  is  no 
reason  why  a  single  citizen  of  the  United  States  should  leave  any 
part  of  this  country  to  find  good  land  and  cheap  land  in  another 
country  if  he  does  not  want  to  stay  where  he  is.  Iowa,  I  believe  its 
people  will  admit,  is  the  best  State  in  the  Union,  and  yet  they  are 
leaving  it.  They  say  they  can  get  cheaper  land.  But  where?  Up 
in  the  Northwest.  A  friend  of  mine  left  Scranton  many  years  ago 
and  said :  "  I  am  going  out  to  the  Northwest."  He  said  he  was  going 
over  to  Canada.  He  said  he  wanted  to  go  on  the  land.  I  met  him 
some  time  afterwards,  and  I  asked  him,  "  What  are  you  doing  back 
here,  Spencer,  visiting  ?  "  He  said :  "  No ;  I  am  back  for  good."  I 
said :  "  Have  you  got  your  family  here  ?  "  He  said :  "  Yes."  I  said : 
"  Why  did  you  come  back  ?  I  understood  you  were  going  to  stay.  I 
thought  you  shook  the  dust  of  Scranton  off  your  feet."  He  said :  "  1 
thought  so,  too.  But  the  fact  of  the  matter  is,"  said  he,  "  that  nine 
months  of  the  year  are  winter  and  the  other  three  are  so  late  in 
the  fall  that  it  was  mighty  uncomfortable  to  stay."     [Laughter.] 

Why  any  man  will  go  away  from  any  State  in  the  American  Union, 
if  he  is  displeased  with  the  climate,  and  go  off  into  British  Canada 
when  he  can  go  down  to  our  Southern  States  and  get  all  kinds  of 
climate  that  are  good,  I  do  not  understand.  If  a  man  wants  to 
change  from  the  South  to  the  Northwest  he  can  do  it  to  his  own 
advantage  right  in  our  own  country,  and  he  can  do  it  economically 
if  only  the  information  is  filed  with  the  Division  of  Information 
and  if  the  division  has  an  appropriation  at  its  hands  and  can  coop- 
erate with  all  our  States  in  the  work  of  distribution. 

That  is  the  whole  thing  in  a  nutshell.  Its  details,  of  course,  would 
take  too  long  to  go  into,  but  you  all  know  what  they  are  and  what 
we  ought  to  do. 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  Mr.  Chairman,  did  I  understand  you  to  say 
that  organized  labor  as  such  was  opposed  to  the  work  being  done  by 
this  bureau? 

The  Chairman.  Some  parts  of  it;  yes.  They  entertain  the  idea 
that  it  would  stimulate  immigration ;  but,  of  course,  that  was  a  mis- 
conception. We  have  tried  to  disabuse  their  minds  of  that,  and  I 
think  it  is  pretty  well  done. 

Mr.  Gettemy.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  came  into  this  meeting  late,  be- 
cause of  the  late  arrival  of  a  train,  and  I  have  gathered  from  the 
remarks  I  have  heard  that  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  this  conference 
has  been  pretty  generally  taken,  and  that  you  are  about  to  proceed 
to  put  the  various  ideas  that  have  been  expressed  into  some  concrete 
form.  I  do  not  wish  to  delay  your  program  in  that  respect,  but  I 
did  not  wish  the  meeting  to  pass  without  its  being  appreciated  that 
Massachusetts  was  represented  here. 


CONFEREKCE  OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  75 

I  confess  to  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  with  the  point  of  view  and 
the  statement  of  our  friend  on  the  left,  who  indicated  that  he  thought 
that  this  gathering  had  been  assembled,  not  so  much  for  the  purpose 
of  listening  to  the  exploitation  of  the  glories  and  achievements  and 
advantages  of  the  various  States  as  for  the  purpose  of  endeavoring 
to  get  information  which  would  enable  the  various  States  to  solve 
some  of  their  problems.  That  being  so,  I  am  not  going  to  detain  you 
with  a  lengthy  description  of  the  situation  in  Massachusetts,  but  I 
conceive  that,  nevertheless,  no  comprehensive  solution  of  the  problem 
which  seems  to  be  confronting  all  the  States  can  be  arrived  at  until 
those  who  are  to  be  charged  with  working  out  that  solution  become, 
in  a  general  way,  familiar  with  the  conditions  in  the  States. 

I  have  listened  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  since  I  have  been  in 
the  room  to  the  description  of  the  conditions  existing  in  the  various 
States,  principally  the  large  agricultural  communities  of  the  Union. 
It  does  not  appear  to  me  that  our  conditions  in  Massachusetts  are 
exactly  analogous  to  them.  Nevertheless,  we  have  a  problem  there. 
It  is  a  matter  known  of  all  men  that  Massachusetts  is  one  of  the 
great  industrial  States  of  the  country.  Massachusetts  ranks  fourth 
in  the  value  of  her  manufactured  products.  It  has  increased  over  102 
per  cent  in  the  last  14  years,  since  the  census  of  1895.  The  value  of 
her  manufactures  thus  has  doubled,  and  amounts  to  nearly  a  billion 
and  a  half.  We  employ  nearly  600,000  wage-earners  in  our  manu- 
facturing establishments.  We  dispense  $300,000,000  in  wages  to  the 
men  and  women  who  work  in  the  mills  and  factories,  and  we  have 
one  industry,  the  cotton  industry,  that  employs  over  108,000  people. 
To  some  of  you  gentlemen  from  the  farther  western  agricultural 
States,  therefore,  it  may  sound  rather  strange  to  have  it  said  in  your 
hearing  that  Massachusetts  is  one  of  the  great  agricultural  States  of 
the  country.  This  is  due  to  the  great  market  gardens  near  our  large 
centers  of  population,  and  I  believe  the  claim  has  been  made  that  the 
value  of  the  cucumber  crop  of  Massachusetts  is  greater  than  that  of 
the  corn  crop  of  Kansas. 

I  personally  know  a  farmer  in  Massachusetts  who  gets  $7,500  a 
year  of  a  37-acre  farm.  He  has  to  employ  14  men.  Now,  he  has 
a  farm  problem,  though  it  is  somewhat  different  from  that  of  the 
Middle  West;  but  I,  like  you,  am  constantly  hearing  of  the  farm 
problem  in  my  State.  I  do  not  think  that  we  need  to  encourage 
immigrants  to  come  to  Massachusetts  for  the  special  purpose  of  solv- 
ing that  problem,  because  an  enormous  percentage  of  our  popula- 
tion is  already  composed  of  persons  of  foreign  birth  or  foreign 
parentage ;  the  population  of  the  great  industrial  city  of  Fall  River, 
a  city  of  about  120,000  people,  is  over  80  per  cent  of  foreign  parent- 
age. But  we  need  somebody  to  go  out  and  supply  the  farm  labor. 
The  immigrants  that  seek  the  soil  are  very  largely  of  the  character 


76  DISTKIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

of  those  that  we  have  heard  of  here  to-day  populating  Wisconsin, 
namely,  the  Polanders.  But  in  Massachusetts  the  Polander  does 
not  care  to  work  for  the  Yankee  farmer.  He  goes  out  into  the 
western  part  of  the  State  and  buys  up  land  that  has  been  perhaps 
deserted  by  the  Yankee.  They  want  to  own  the  soil,  to  own  their 
own  farms,  and  they  are  making  very  great  successes  out  there; 
but  that  is  not  helping  the  Yankee  farmers  that  are  left  that  need 
farm  labor. 

Now,  we  have  in  our  State  free  public  employment  offices  which  are 
supplying  thousands  of  positions  annually,  and  what  we  want  to  do 
is  to  endeavor  in  some  way  to  connect  up  with  farm  labor  that  will 
go  out  in  the  country  and  work  for  these  farmers.  The  trouble  with 
the  newly  arrived  immigrant — it  is  no  reflection  on  him — is  that 
he  does  not  know  the  language.  As  one  farmer  told  me  when  I 
talked  this  question  over  with  him : 

I  had  one  of  those  men,  and  I  went  away  for  the  day  and  told  him  that  he 
must  not  let  the  bars  down  because  the  cows  would  get  out.  He  misunder- 
stood it,  and  got  it  twisted  around.  He  meant  well,  but  he  did  exactly  the 
opposite  of  what  he  was  told ;  he  let  the  bars  down  and  the  cows  got  out. 

That  farmer  did  not  have  time  to  be  patient  enough  with  that  poor 
fellow  to  teach  him  the  language  and  to  break  him  in.  The  question 
of  supplying  farm  labor  is  a  vital  one  in  Massachusetts,  although, 
as  I  say,  some  of  you  gentlemen  might  not  suppose  that  we  had  such 
a  problem. 

I  think  the  chairman  of  the  meeting  hit  the  nail  on  the  head 
when  he  said  that  it  is  largely  a  matter  of  appropriations.  He  can 
not  deal  with  this  great  question  at  long  range — from  Washington 
all  over  the  country — individually.  He  must  have  representatives, 
it  seems  to  me,  in  the  various  States.  One  suggestion  that  was  made, 
which  I  think  is  an  excellent  one  if  it  can  be  carried  out,  and  is 
certainly  worthy  of  serious  consideration,  was  that  of  having  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  Division  of  Information  at  each  of  the  great  ports 
of  the  country  like  New  York  and  Boston  and  New  Orleans,  who 
would  assist  in  connecting  up  this  proposition,  working  side  by  side 
with  a  representative  of  the  State.  That,  I  conceive,  might  be  pos- 
sible, being  shared  by  the  National  Government  and  the  State. 

One  difficulty  that  we  have  in  our  employment  offices  in  Boston — 
we  have  one  of  the  largest  free  public  offices  there,  I  think,  that 
exists  anywhere — is  that  we  can  not  afford  to  employ  a  large  number 
of  interpreters,  and  we  have  not  yet  worked  out  satisfactorily  a 
scheme  whereby  we  can  send  these  people  to  the  farmers.  But  that 
is  something  that  is  under  consideration,  and  it  is  a  live  question. 

I  am  very  glad  to  be  here  to  get  the  benefit  of  some  of  the  sugges- 
tions that  have  been  made,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  most  practical 
suggestion  that  has  been  made  is  that  a  larger  appropriation  should 


CONFERENCfE   OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  77 

be  made  by  Congress,  which  will  enable  the  division  of  which  Mr. 
Powderly  is  the  head  to  cooperate  in  some  practical  way  with  the 
local  situation  in  each  State.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Sandles.  I  would  like  to  ask  the  chairman  if  he  deems  it 
right  and  proper  to  ask  for  an  expression  from  those  present  as  to 
the  advisability  of  including  in  our  resolutions  one  asking  that  the 
Government  provide  a  bureau  of  information  for  each  State;  or.  if 
you  do  not  favor  it  for  every  State,  then  for  various  stations  in 
different  parts  of  the  United  States  ?  I  would  like  to  get  it  down  to 
something  concrete,  so  that  we  will  know  where  we  are  at.  It  won't 
take  but  a  minute  to  do  that.  If  we  think  that  is  a  good  thing  to  do, 
let  us  stand  up  and  say,  "  We  believe  that  it  is  all  right  to  ask  Uncle 
Sam  to  establish  a  bureau  of  information  in  every  State." 

Mr.  Trappe.  Gentlemen,  I  said  in  my  resolution  that  there  should 
be  an  office  in  each  city  of  at  least  10,000  inhabitants.  We  had  a 
bureau  of  information  in  our  city.  It  did  very  good  service,  and 
such  an  office  would  do  just  as  good  service  for  each  city  in  the  Union 
of  over  10,000  population.  It  seems  to  me  we  ought  to  embody  in 
our  resolution  a  request  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  ap- 
propriate sufficient  money  for  the  bureau  to  establish  such  offices. 

Mr.  Haynes  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  in  reference  to  the  sug- 
gestion made  by  the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  Mr.  Sandles,  I  would  like 
to  say  that  the  conference  has  already  gone  on  record  to  the  effect 
that  resolutions  introduced  here  shall  be  referred  to  the  committee 
on  resolutions.  Now,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  am  in  favor  of  this 
proposal,  but  I  call  attention  to  the  regular  order  and  suggest  that 
you  put  in  your  motion  so  that  it  may  be  referred  to  the  committee 
on  resolutions. 

Mr.  Sandles.  I  just  wanted  to  asked  them  whether  they  wanted 
that  in  the  resolution. 

The  Chairman.  Put  it  in  anyway. 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  There  are  evidently  two  suggestions  here — one 
for  each  State  and  one  for  every  city  of  over  10,000  inhabitants.  In 
your  judgment,  which  has  the  best  chance? 

Mr.  Sandles.  One  for  each  State. 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  The  other  would  be  enormously  expensive  and 
possibly  would  be  turned  down. 

The  Chairman.  One  for  each  State,  I  think,  has  the  best  chance. 

Mr.  Trappe.  I  would  offer  that  to  the  committee  on  resolutions. 

Mr.  Sandles.  I  think  we  ought  all  to  stand  up  and  say  what  we 
think.  I  think  we  ought  to  put  down  some  of  our  demands  in  con- 
crete form,  and  I  would  like  to  know  what  the  chairman  thinks  of 
the  appropriation  which  he  ought  to  have.  It  is  for  the  good  of  each 
State.  If  we  go  back  and  put  on  our  fighting  clothes  and  ask  for 
two  or  three  concrete  things,  and  put  them  up  to  our  Congressmen, 


78  DISTKIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHEBS. 

we  can  get  them ;  because  I  imagine  that  those  who  are  here  are  repre- 
senting the  real  needs  and  demands  of  their  States,  which  a  Con- 
gressman or  United  States  Senator  will  not  refuse,  because  they  want 
to  serve  their  people,  and  it  is  the  best  thing  they  can  do  in  order  to 
get  back.  [Laughter.]  And  that  is  a  good  trait  of  many  of  them, 
anyhow.  The  only  thing  to  do  is  to  know  exactly  what  we  want.  If 
we  want  one  of  those  stations  in  each  State,  let  us  say  so.  If  we 
want  $150,000  or  $200,000  to  promote  that  thing,  let  us  say  so  and 
we  can  get  it. 

The  Chairman.  Let  the  committee  on  resolutions  take  that  matter 
up.  Of  course,  after  you  decide  which  you  want,  then  you  can  tell 
what  your  appropriation  should  be. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  represent  any  State  that  I 
know  of 

The  Chairman.  You  represent  all  the  States. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  I  am  not  from  sunny  California  or  the  glorious  State 
of  Colorado,  but  there  is  a  question  that  I  would  like  to  put  to  you, 
Mr.  Powderly,  and  I  think  it  would  help  the  committee  on  resolu- 
tions to  reach  a  safe  conclusion.  You  have  received  in  your  division 
a  certain  number  of  inquiries,  we  will  say.  About  how  many  have 
you  handled  ?    Suppose  we  say  60,000. 

The  Chairman.  It  is  over  that. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  Over  that.  Now,  how  were  those  distributed,  or  what 
was  done  with  those  inquiries  after  you  received  them  ? 

The  Chairman.  We  place  them  on  file  in  a  branch  office  in  New 
York.  We  have  no  other  large  one.  We  have  one  in  Galveston,  but 
it  deals  with  those  coming  in  at  Galveston.  As  a  rule,  the  immigrant 
thinks  he  knows  where  he  is  going  when  he  comes  here.  He  has  a 
friend  who  wrote  to  him — either  that,  or  he  wrote  to  the  friend. 
He  comes  here  with  the  idea  that  he  is  going  to  a  certain  place.  He 
gets  there,  and  in  a  short  time  his  money  is  gone  and  his  welcome 
is  worn  out.  That  is  the  time  he  needs  this  division,  and  he  needs  it 
bad.  Last  year  30,000  men  called  at  the  branch  office  in  New  York, 
and  over  5,000  were  directed  to  different  places;  but  of  the  30,000, 
some  represented  groups  of  5,  as  stated  to  our  officer  over  there; 
others  represented  groups  of  10 — 5  up  to  15  or  20  people — living  at 
a  distance  from  there.  So  it  is  safe  to  say  that  that  information 
they  got  served  over  100,000  people.    It  is  estimated  at  that  anyway. 

We  do  not  know  how  many  of  those  took  advantage  of  that  infor- 
mation. We  do  know  that  over  5,000  were  directed  straight  to  the 
places  where  they  were  wanted,  and  they  stayed  there,  not  for  a 
month  or  two  or  three  months,  but  all  the  time. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  Now,  referring  to  the  Southern  States;  I  believe  that 
there  is  a  gentleman  here  from  Texas  and  another  from  Louisiana, 
Mr.  Denechaud,  but  there  are  no  others,  as  near  as  I  can  see 


CONFERENCE   OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  79 

The  Chaibman.  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  are  represented. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  Yes;  Mr.  South  is  not  here  this  afternoon  and  Mr. 
Peck  is  not  here.  Did  you  find  any  willingness  on  the  part  of  the 
Southern  States  to  supply  information  to  these  persons  seeking  it? 

The  Chairman.  Until  very  recently,  no. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  What  was  the  real  hindrance? 

The  Chairman.  The  idea  was  a  mistaken  impression  growing  out 
of  a  report  that  was  industriously  circulated — I  do  not  know  by 
whom ;  I  did  not  try  to  find  out,  and  I  could  not  if  I  had — that  the 
division  was  attempting  to  dump  men  on  the  South  from  southern 
Europe.  That  inflamed  quite  a  number  of  people  there  and  caused 
them  to  oppose  the  division  until  I  went  personally  among  them  and 
explained  to  them  that  the  division  did  not  do  anything  of  the  kind. 
Now  the  State  agencies  are  beginning  to  cooperate  with  the  division 
and  send  information.  For  instance,  I  get  letters  from  all  over  the 
country  asking  where  they  can  get  a  farm  in  the  South,  and  I  send 
a  copy  of  each  letter  to  every  State  agency  in  the  South,  or  to  the 
States  south  of  the  Mason  and  Dixon  line,  where  these  men  would 
like  to  go,  and  as  a  consequence  they  are  beginning  to  have  confidence 
in  the  division  and  are  cooperating  with  it. 

We  can  send  men  nowhere.  They  got  the  idea  that  we  could  ship 
them  like  so  many  bales  of  hay.  We  simply  direct  them  to  where 
they  will  be  sure  of  employment. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  That  impression  was  conveyed  by  a  periodical  that 
circulates  somewhat  in  the  South,  and  which  determined  that  your 
division  was  a  damage,  or  they  saw  a  possibility  of  denouncing  it  as 
a  damage. 

Now,  sir,  there  are  some  States  in  the  South  that  have  no  State 
organizations  for  handling  immigrants.  There  are  some  States  in 
the  South  that  have  immigration  ofiices  that  do  not  do  any  effective 
work.    You  have  discovered  that. 

The  Chairman.  Yes. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  Now,  grant  that  there  is  a  wider  effort  made  to  impart 
information.  How  would  you  handle  those  who  wished  to  go  to 
States  where  you  found  no  official  representative  ready  to  handle  the 
query  when  you  sent  it  ? 

The  Chairman.  Deal  directly  with  individuals  desiring  help,  and 
send  the  man  right  to  them. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  Haven't  you  found  in  the  South  that  the  desire  is  not 
for  farm  labor  in  the  sense  that  a  Massachusetts  cucumber  raiser 
would  want  14  people  to  help  him  gather  the  crop,  but  that  the  desire 
is  for  farmers? 

The  Chairman.  Farm  owners,  farm  settlers,  renters,  or  workers 
on  shares. 


80  DISTKIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

Mr.  Dawe.  There  is  very  little  demand  for  farm  labor,  as  such,  in 
the  South? 

The  Chairman.  Quite  a  little ;  yes ;  it  is  growing. 

Mr.  Dawe.  Now,  in  all  the  States  of  the  South  there  are  hundreds 
of  commercial  organizations  ready  and  eager  to  give  information, 
if  they  have  the  opportunity.  Why  are  they  not  already  organized 
centers  through  whom  you  could  gather  the  facts  that  you  desire? 

The  Chairman.  That  would  be  a  good  idea. 

Mr.  Dawe.  Because  they  are  there  already,  and  they  are  eager  to 
cooperate  and  are  not  held  back  by  what  you  would  call  political 
considerations — and  political  considerations  do  enter  into  the  whole 
subject  of  establishing  Federal  branches  in  the  Southern  States. 
There  is  room  there  for  what  you  might  call  a  political  uproar;  is  it 
not  so? 

The  Chairman.  That  is  true. 

Mr.  Dawe.  Now,  take  the  railroads  of  the  South,  and  there  are 
some  representatives  of  railroads  here — pardon  me  if  I  am  taking 
too  much  time;  it  is  simply  to  elucidate  one  point — they  have,  in 
many  cases,  most  excellent  immigration  departments.  Do  you  coop- 
erate with  them,  sir? 

The  Chairman.  T7e  do.  We  get  the  information  they  have  gath- 
ered, it  is  verified,  we  send  it  right  on  to  New  York,  and  quite  a  few 
have  acted  on  it. 

Mr.  Dawe.  Now,  with  the  railroads  eager  to  satisfy  their  travel- 
ers— ^because  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  railroad  that  misrepresents 
conditions  along  its  lines,  unless  it  might  be  the  railroad  that  has  a 
signboard  put  up  on  the  switch  reading  "  Ohio,"  when  people  come 
along  wanting  to  go  to  Ohio ;  I  believe  that  would  be  the  New  York 
Central.  [Laughter.]  The  railroads  of  the  South  are  already  or- 
ganized in  almost  every  case  with  a  department  of  immigration. 
They  are  in  the  business  of  getting  people  along  their  lines.  They 
are,  therefore,  eager  to  cooperate  with  any  office  where  queries  are 
gathered.  Also,  there  are  at  the  present  moment  1,300  commercial 
organizations  scattered  all  over  the  South.  The  majority  of  those 
commercial  organizations  are  on  the  side  of  correct  presentation  of 
facts,  because  they  realize  that  in  this  rapid  development  of  the 
South  which  is  to  take  place  in  the  next  10  or  15  years — millions, 
I  believe,  will  go  into  the  South  in  that  time — they  realize  that  the 
disappointed  purchaser  is  a  bad  citizen;  consequently  they  are 
almost  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  the  man  who  receives  infor- 
mation should  receive  it  from  an  organization,  and  these  organi- 
zations are  the  promoting  forces  of  the  various  communities.  Up 
to  now  not  25  per  cent  of  the  South  is  at  all  cultivated.  There  is 
75  per  cent  yet  to  be  brought  under  cultivation. 


CONFERENCE   OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  81 

Now,  sir,  all  that  I  wish  to  bring  out  is  this,  that  if  these  methods 
and  means  of  getting  names  and  queries  into  the  hands  of  respon- 
sible men  already  exist,  why  should  it  be  necessary  to  bring  up  as 
an  element  in  this  effort  a  semipolitical  move?  It  may  be  all  right 
to  establish  a  Federal  branch  in  Ohio,  but  you  would  not  find  a  Fed- 
eral branch  welcomed  so  warmly  in  Mississippi.  We  will  take  Mis- 
sissippi as  a  type.  If  you  bring  up  this  question  of  establishing 
Federal  offices  for  the  purpose  of  simply  giving  information  regarding 
the  State,  I  fear  that  you  will  find,  even  though  you  have  a  Demo- 
cratic House,  that  it  is  going  to  be  a  difficult  proposition  to  get 
favorable  attention  to  it.  I  favor  absolutely  a  tremendous  increase 
of  appropriation  for  Brother  Powderly — I  will  call  him  brother ;  not 
that  I  am  a  second-degree  Irishman,  but  that  I  am  a  first-degree 
Englishman,  having  landed  through  Castle  Garden,  by  the  way, 
Mr.  Powderly.  Yes,  sir;  I  went  through  Castle  Garden,  and  went 
down  on  my  knees  after  I  got  there,  because  the  pavement  in  New 
York  was  so  rough  that  I  did  not  lift  my  foot  high  enough,  and 
down  I  went.     [Laughter.] 

Now,  you  have  been  suffering  here,  and  I  have  been  cognizant  of 
it,  through  laclt  of  means.  I  believe  that  if  this  conference  can 
crystallize  the  thought  that  will  give  you  more  means,  it  will  gain 
a  great  deal.  But  if  this  conference  goes  on  record  as  justifying  the 
immediate  opening  of  branch  offices  in  all  the  States  of  the  Union, 
I  believe,  sir,  that  part  of  what  you  hope  to  gain  will  be  hindered  by 
that  emphatic  step.  The  means  of  distributing  information  to  those 
who  are  eager  to  receive  it  exists.  There  is  only  the  missing  link 
of  sufficient  appropriation  to  make  Mr.  Powderly's  division  more 
efficient  in  gathering  knowledge  as  to  the  needs.  The  mails  go 
quickly;  it  does  not  take  seven  weeks  now,  as  it  did  when  your 
honored  father  landed  in  Quebec.  The  information  is  available ;  the 
responsible  people  are  scattered  in  various  communities  throughout 
the  Nation;  and  I  believe  you  can  inaugurate  an  effective  piece  of 
machinery,  sir,  by  this  appropriation  that  you  wish,  without  taking 
up  the  question  of  establishing  headquarters  in  each  State  of  the 
Union. 

I  beg  to  apologize  for  having  taken  so  much  time,  but  there  is  no 
use  running  against  obstacles  that  you  know  will  prove  to  be  obstacles, 
and  I  hope  the  resolutions  committee  will  not  definitely  come  out  in 
favor  of  State  branches  of  the  division. 

Mr.  Sandles.  Just  a  question,  Mr.  Dawe.  Would  you  favor  it  if 
these  States,  through  proper  authorities,  should  make  proper  appli- 
cation for  such  a  bureau? 

Mr.  Dawe.  That  would  be  splendid,  sir,  because  then  it  comes  out 
as  an  expression  of  the  State's  desire,  whereas  the  other  method  is  not 
23508"— 12 6 


82  DISTRIBUTION"   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

an  expression  of  the  State's  desire;  it  is  placing  in  the  State  some- 
thing that  may  really  be  (for  political  reasons,  we  will  say)  con- 
sidered undesirable. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  had  exactly  this  idea  in  my 
mind  for  quite  a  long  while  this  afternoon,  and  I  am  very  grateful 
to  this  gentleman  for  expressing  it,  which  he  has  done  undoubtedly 
much  better  than  I  ever  could  have  done. 

I  think,  if  the  committee  on  resolutions  will  work  along  on  this 
line  and  ask  for  an  increased  appropriation  so  that  you  can  carry 
your  work  on  through  the  different  bureaus  represented  by  the  mem- 
bers here,  that  you  will  have  accomplished  what  you  wish,  and  that  a 
great  deal  more  good  than  you  are  already  doing  will  be  accom- 
plished. On  the  other  hand,  there  can  be  no  serious  objection  to  the 
suggestion  of  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  that  the  office  be  requested 
by  the  State,  and  I  imagine  that  that  might  be  successful ;  but  if  we 
attempt  to  bite  off  more  than  we  can  chew  we  may  not  get  any 
chew  at  all. 

Mr.  Sandles.  If  you  are  going  to  ask  for  a  bigger  appropriation, 
the  first  question  that  your  Congressman  will  ask  you  is,  "  What  are 
you  going  to  do  with  it?" 

Mr.  Harris.  And  this  committee  on  resolutions  will  tell  you.  They 
have  got  it  already  in  concrete  form,  as  I  understand,  to  enlarge  the 
work  under  Mr.  Powderly,  with  the  assistance  of  all  the  different 
State  bureaus. 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  must  insist  on  the 
regular  order.    There  is  nothing  before  the  house. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  further  pleasure  of  the  house? 

A  Delegate.  Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  not  heard  from  the  great 
State  of  Illinois.    I  would  like  to  hear  their  views. 

Mr.  Koss.  I  understood  from  the  program,  Mr.  Chairman,  that 
this  conference  would  continue  until  Friday. 

The  Chairman.  Yes. 

Mr.  Ross.  There  are  a  number  of  other  States,  I  take  it,  that  have 
not  been  heard  from,  and  I  would  like  to  defer  my  remarks  until  to- 
morrow, if  that  is  satisfactory. 

The  Chairman.  Perfectly  satisfactory,  Mr.  Ross. 

Mr.  Sandles.  Just  another  word,  Mr.  Chairman,  and  then  I  will 
quit.  I  want  to  say  that  Ohio  will  join  in  any  movement  that  this 
conference  agrees  upon  to-morrow,  and  that  Ohio  will  also  welcome 
a  meeting  of  this  kind  next  year,  or  whenever  the  Chairman  wants  to 
call  it,  or  whenever  you  may  agree  that  you  want  one.  Ohio  will  be 
glad  to  pay  any  dues  or  assessments,  within  reason,  that  this  associa- 
tion may  deem  necessary  to  conduct  its  work.  Our  department 
in  Ohio  does  pay  dues  to  several  different  organizations  to  help  them 


CONFERENCE   OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  83 

along.  I  do  not  know  whether  that  will  be  necessary  or  not,  but 
Ohio  is  ready  and  willing  to  cooperate. 

Just  a  word  about  the  labor  organizations.  We  have  taken  that 
question  up  a  little  in  Ohio,  and  the  labor  organizations,  so  far  as 
we  have  investigated,  have  said,  "  All  right.  We  will  be  glad  to  have 
these  foreigners  come  out  on  the  farm  and  not  crowd  into  the  cities 
after  our  labor-union  jobs;  and  since  the  cost  of  living  is  very  high 
we  will  be  glad  to  have  the  number  of  farm  laborers  increase  so  that 
they  can  raise  more  '  garden  sass '  and  perhaps  make  it  a  little 
cheaper."  So  that  question  seems  to  be  eliminated  very  largely  in 
Ohio.  I  hope  you  will  arrive  at  conclusions  that  will  be  helpful 
to  all  of  us;  and  Ohio  is  with  you  in  anything  you  do  to-morrow. 
[Applause.] 

Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  ask  a  further  question 
along  this  line,  if  it  is  in  order.  I  disagree  with  Mr.  Haynes  about  not 
being  in  order,  because  I  understand  we  are  here  to  discuss  the 
whole  subject  without  reference  to  any  particular  motions.  I  would 
like  to  ask  you  if  the  various  offices  which  might  be  organized  would 
exactly  parallel  the  work  of  commercial  organizations.  Would  they 
not  be  auxiliary  in  a  very  splendid  way  ?  If  we  could  have  offices  at 
the  ports  of  entry,  at  the  places  of  congestion,  etc.,  would  not  that  be 
a  very  welcome  thing? 

Speaking  for  California,  we  have  a  very  complete  organization  to 
furnish  information.  Every  town  in  the  State  practically  has  a 
chamber  of  commerce.  They  are  all  articulated.  We  spend  a 
million  and  a  half  dollars  a  year,  entirely  apart  from  the  money  ap- 
propriated by  the  State,  in  advertising  our  State,  and  we  have  it  in 
very  complete  and  pictorial  form.  We  are  willing  to  supply  it  in 
every  way.  We  would  welcome  in  California,  I  am  quite  sure — in 
San  Francisco,  for  instance — a  department  of  distribution,  and  we 
would  cooperate  with  it  and  find  it,  I  am  sure,  a  very  valuable  help. 
Is  there  not  a  real  distinction  to  be  made?  I  appreciate  the  force 
of  the  statement  of  the  gentleman  who  spoke  a  few  moments  ago 
in  regard  to  this  matter,  but  I  would  like  to  ask  that  question. 

The  Chairman.  I  believe  that  is  a  matter  of  discretion.  In  the 
Southern  States  where  they  have  commercial  bodies  we  cooperate 
with  them.  They  have  no  State  boards  of  immigration,  and  we 
find  that  accurate  information  comes  from  these  commercial  organi- 
zations. It  is  to  be  relied  upon  just  as  much  as  the  other;  but  if 
each  State  in  the  South,  as  well  as  the  North,  had  its  own  immigra- 
tion board  to  cooperate  with  us,  the  question  of  politics  should  not 
enter  into  it;  they  would  be  subject  to  the  political  organization  of 
the  State,  of  course.  As  to  your  organization  in  San  Francisco,  we 
did  have  in  the  early  days  of  the  division  a  representative  in  San 


84  DISTRIBUTION"   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

Francisco,  and  all  inquiries  which  came  from  points  in  his  jurisdic- 
tion were  sent  to  him  with  directions  to  consult  your  board  and  tc 
cooperate  with  it.  But,  unfortunately,  he  died,  or  went  away  from 
there,  and  we  have  not  been  able  to  get  another  one  since. 

Mr.  Packer.  Do  the  different  States  have  a  chance  for  represen- 
tation at  New  York  now? 

The  Chairman.  Oh,  yes.  But  the  few  that  attempted  it  found  the 
congestion  so  great  that  there  was  no  room  for  them.  In  one  of  my 
annual  reports  I  recommended  the  building  of  large  rooms  at  every 
immigrant  station  where  the  advantages  of  each  State  could  be  set 
forth  through  literature,  maps,  and  phonographs,  giving  lectures  in 
their  own  language. 

Mr.  Packer.  Are  these  representatives  authorized  to  distribute  lit- 
erature ? 

The  Chairman.  Yes;  that  is  why  they  were  to  be  stationed  there. 
But  Mr.  Watchorn,  who  was  then  commissioner,  could  not  find  the 
way  to  do  it  because  of  the  cramped  quarters,  and  Mr.  Williams, 
I  believe,  is  in  pretty  much  the  same  position.  If  smy  of  you  visit 
Ellis  Island  you  will  realize  the  force  of  that  contention. 

What  is  the  further  pleasure  of  the  house? 

At  5.20  p.  m.  the  conference  adjourned  until  9.30  a.  m.  Friday, 
November  17,  1911. 


THIRD  SESSION. 

MORNING  OF  FRIDAY,  NOVEMBER  17,  1911. 

The  conference  reassembled  at  9.50  a.  m. 

Mr.  Harris.  I  believe,  Mr.  Chairman,  when  we  adjourned  last 
night  we  adjourned  to  meet  here  and  discuss  that  committee  report. 

The  Chairman.  That  is  correct.    Is  the  committee  ready  to  report  ? 

Mr.  Lynch.  Before  the  committee  reports,  in  order  to  facilitate 
matters  and  limit  unnecessary  debate,  which  could  easily  be  prolonged 
on  trivial  matters  until  vital  matters  were  crowded  out,  should  we 
not  have  some  rule  in  regard  to  the  vote  on  these  various  resolutions 
that  are  to  be  presented,  and  the  amount  of  debate — some  limit  in 
regard  to  the  number  of  times  which  we  shall  speak  to  the  various 
questions  ? 

The  Chairman.  The  Chair  will  rule,  if  you  do  not  object,  that 
until  all  who  desire  to  do  so  have  spoken  no  one  will  be  recognized 
twice. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  there  is  no  motion,  is  there  ? 

The  Chairman.  Not  yet. 

Mr.  Harris.  Nothing  before  the  house  except  the  regular  order. 
Inasmuch  as  it  is  probable  that  there  will  be  a  series  of  resolutions, 
would  it  not  be  well  that  we  vote  on  each  resolution  separately  ?  In 
order  to  bring  the  matter  up,  I  make  a  motion  that  each  resolution  be 
acted  on  separately  as  we  come  to  it,  and  then  the  whole  matter  be 
voted  on. 

The  Chairman.  How  will  it  do  to  have  them  read  as  a  whole  first? 

Mr.  Harris.  I  have  no  objections.    I  thought  it  would  save  time. 

The  Chairman.  It  does  not  always  save  time,  because  sometimes 
the  last  resolution  qualifies  the  rest,  and  you  will  not  know  about 
that  until  you  hear  it.  So  it  is  better  to  read  them  all  and  then  act 
on  them  separately. 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Chairman  and  members  of  the  conference,  the 
resolutions  committee  begs  to  report  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  this  conference  become  a  permanent  organization  to  be  known 
as  the  National  Conference  of  Immigration,  Land,  and  Labor  OflBcials,  and  that 
oflScers  and  an  executive  committee  thereof,  with  full  powers,  be  elected;  and 
that  membership  in  this  conference  be  restricted  to  State  and  Federal  oflBcials, 
and  that  the  original  membership  consist  of  such  officials  present  at  this  first 
conference. 

85 


86  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND   OTHERS. 

Resolved,  That  this  conference  establish,  during  the  ensuing  year,  such  oflSces 
and  at  such  points  as  the  executive  committee  shall  determine,  provided  funds 
therefor  can  be  obtained. 

Resolved,  That  the  objects  of  this  conference  shall  be : 

(1)  To  arouse  public  sentiment  (a)  favoring  increased  congressional  appro- 
priation enabling  the  Federal  Division  of  Information  of  the  Bureau  of  Im- 
migration of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  to  induce  admitted 
foreign-born  and  native  people  to  leave  congested  population  centers  and  go  to 
agricultural  and  other  industries;  (6)  favoring  the  creation  of  State  bureaus 
of  immigration  and  information,  with  representatives  at  ports  of  entry,  and 
appropriations  therefor  by  the  several  States;  (c)  favoring  the  extension  of 
the  activities  of  such  bureaus  for  the  protection,  education,  and  assimilation 
of  immigrants;  (d)  favoring  the  fullest  cooperation  between  the  several  State 
bureaus  and  between  the  State  bureaus  and  the  Federal  Division  of  Informa- 
tion in  the  above  objects. 

(2)  To  enlist  the  aid  and  cooperation  of  commercial,  civic,  philanthropic,  and 
other  organizations  in  the  above  objects. 

Resolved,  That  the  executive  committee  of  this  conference  be  instructed 
to  prepare,  in  cooperation  with  the  chief  of  the  Division  of  Information  of  the 
Bureau  of  Immigration  of  the  Department  of  Ck)mmerce  and  Labor,  amend- 
ments enlarging  the  powers  of  said  division  to  deal  with  interstate  problems 
affecting  the  distribution,  protection,  and  welfare  of  admitted  aliens,  and 
enabling  the  said  division  to  establish  branches  at  such  centers  of  distribution 
as  may  be  deemed  advisable. 

Resolved,  That  this  conference  recommend  the  establishment  of  State  em- 
ployment bureaus  m  the  various  States,  and  the  enactment  of  laws  safeguard- 
ing laborers  in  search  of  employment. 

Resolved,  That  the  present  conference  respectfully  express  to  the  honorable 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  its  hope  that  he  will  find  it  possible  and 
agreeable  to  have  the  proceedings  of  the  present  conference  separately  pub- 
lished by  his  department  at  as  early  a  date  as  may  prove  feasible  and  in  suffi- 
cient number  for  widespread  distribution. 
Respectfully  submitted. 

Frances  A.  Kellob, 
A.  E.  Nelson, 
John  J.  D.  Trenob, 
J.  B.  Haynes, 
Austin  Cunningham, 

Committee  on  Resolutions. 

The  Chairman.  You  have  heard  the  resolutions,  and  it  is  now  in 
order  to  discuss  the  first  section. 

Resolved,  That  this  conference  become  a  permanent  organization,  to  be  known 
as  the  National  Conference  of  Immigration,  Land,  and  Labor  Officials,  and  that 
officers  and  an  executive  committee  thereof,  with  full  powers,  be  elected;  and 
that  membership  in  this  conference  be  restricted  to  State  and  Federal  officials, 
and  that  the  original  membership  consist  of  such  officials  present  at  this  first 
conference. 

What  is  your  pleasure? 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  the  adoption  of  the  section 
as  read. 

Mr.  Walker.  I  second  the  motion. 

The  Chairman.  Are  you  ready  for  the  question? 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  87 

Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  very  heartily  in  favor  of  making 
this  a  permanent  organization.  I  think  it  is  a  very  wise  thing.  But 
I  wonder  in  regard  to  the  restriction  of  the  membership  strictly  .to 
State  and  Federal  officials.  Some  States  have  such  bureaus,  other 
States  without  such  bureaus  have  machinery  which  is  much  superior 
to  that  of  many  States  which  have  such  bureaus.  We  feel  in  Cali- 
fornia that  it  is  probably  wiser  and  much  more  effective  to  handle 
this  matter  without  political  and  State  aid.  I  know  the  organiza- 
tion which  I  represent  declines  to  receive  any  State  aid.  We  do  not 
care  to  have  the  State  of  California  appropriate  any  money  what- 
ever for  these  purposes.  Perhaps  our  ideas  are  a  little  radical,  but 
why  should  a  body  of  this  kind  exclude  from  its  membership  or- 
ganizations such  as  I  represent  in  favor  of  appointees  of  various 
legislatures  or  the  governors  of  various  States?  The  adoption  of 
this  section  would  absolutely  exclude  such  gentlemen  as  myself  from 
participation  in  such  matters. 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  idea  of  the  conamittee  was  this: 
There  are  a  great  many  commercial  bodies  now — different  organiza- 
tions and  federations  of  organizations.  It  was  our  idea  that  inas- 
much as  there  is  no  federation  of  officials  who  are  working  along 
this  line  there  should  be  such  a  federation  to  cooperate  with  the 
very  body  which  perhaps  Mr.  Lynch  represents.  We  had  thought 
that  this  ought  to  be  a  federation  of  State  officials  who  represent 
their  States  and  the  authority  of  their  States. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  Mr.  Chairman,  there  are  a  number  of  States  in  the 
South  that  have  no  officials  that  are  ready  to  cooperate  with  your 
division.    Is  not  that  correct? 

The  Chairman.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Dawe.  The  Southern  Commercial  Congress,  representing  all 
the  Southern  States,  is  ready  at  all  times  to  cooperate.  Now,  if  you 
form  this  organization  and  limit  its  membership  exclusively  to  those 
who  are  State  officials,  the  South  will  for  a  long  time  not  be  ade- 
quately represented  in  your  councils,  and  yet  the  spirit  of  the  South, 
as  represented  by  the  constructive  forces  that  are  united  in  such  a 
movement  as  the  Southern  Commercial  Congress,  is  distinctly  in 
favor  of  the  wise  patriotic  purpose  that  you  in  your  bureau  have  in 
mind.  I  am  not  pleading  for  life ;  I  have  got  ample  occupation  from 
morning  to  night  and  from  night  to  morning;  but  it  does  seem  to  me 
somewhat  narrowing  the  potential  usefulness  of  this  organization  to 
restrict  it  to  those  who  are  selected  in  many  cases  for  political 
purposes. 

Mr.  LouNSBERRY.  Mr.  Chairman,  let  me  suggest  that  in  our  State, 
North  Dakota,  the  Northern  Pacific  Kailroad  had  a  grant  of  the 
alternate  sections  of  land  extending  across  the  State  covering  80 
miles.     They  have  been  a  very  effective  force  in  colonizing  that 


88  DISTEIBUTION  OP  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

State  with  immigrants.  The  Great  Northern  Railroad  had  no  grant. 
It  extended  its  road  through  an  unsettled  country,  and  has  been 
insistent  and  effective  in  colonizing  the  State.  Their  method  was 
to  select  belts  of  country  and  go  out  and  seek  people  who  knew  each 
other  to  come  in  and  settle  those  belts,  and  as  one  country  was  settled 
they  selected  another  belt  farther  west,  and  so  on  until  they  covered 
the  whole  State.  In  some  instances  they  would  pass  people  to  the 
State  on  the  payment  of  $20,  and  out  of  that  $20  would  pay  their 
entry  fee  for  homesteads,  thereby  getting  them  into  the  State  and 
to  become  attached  to  the  State.  The  Soo  Line  in  the  same  way  ex- 
tended its  lines  through  an  unsettled  country  and  worked  insistently 
for  the  settlement  of  the  country,  not  bringing  people  back  from  the 
cities  to  the  farms,  but  bringing  people  from  other  States  who  had 
sold  out  or  who  were  renters  and  who  were  interested  in  becoming 
settlers  of  the  State;  and  they  have  become  the  most  important 
factor  in  building  up  the  State.  These  people  that  they  brought  in 
are  the  best  people  in  the  State. 

The  Chairman.  Mr.  Lounsberry,  pardon  me  a  moment,  but  your 
remarks  do  not  seem  to  bear  upon  this  resolution.  The  question  that 
has  been  raised  is  whether  the  commercial  bodies  should  be  repre- 
sented in  this  conference. 

Mr.  Lounsberry.  And  whether  the  railroad  organizations  which 
are  working  on  this  line  should  also  be  represented  is  a  question  that 
ought  to  be  considered. 

The  Chairman.  I  beg  your  pardon ;  I  did  not  know  that  was  what 
you  were  driving  at. 

Mr.  Lounsberry.  That  is  the  point.  It  strikes  me  that  the  rail- 
road organizations  should  also  be  allowed,  through  their  immigration 
departments,  to  participate  in  this  matter,  and  it  strikes  me  that  if 
we  ignore  them  we  are  ignoring  the  most  effective  of  all  sources  for 
the  settlement  of  the  State  and  the  distribution  of  the  settlers  after 
they  reach  our  shores. 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  committee  in  the  con- 
sideration of  this  point  thought  it  was  good  policy  to  steer  clear  of 
all  alliance  with  private  or  corporate  interest — not  because  we 
thought  we  would  be  in  bad  company,  but  we  did  that  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  fact  that  if  we  expect  to  fuse  the  interest  of  the 
Federal  authorities  with  that  of  the  State  authorities  we  have  got 
to  draw  the  line  somewhere.  My  assumption  is  that  we  should  let 
this  stand  as  it  is,  and  if  necessary,  in  courtesy  to  the  California 
Development  Board  and  other  organizations  of  that  nature,  adopt  an 
amended  clause  inviting  them  to  assist  and  cooperate.  We  certainly 
do  not  want  to  turn  our  backs  upon  them.  We  want  their  help. 
Yet,  at  the  same  time,  in  this  organization  we  have  got  to  draw  the 
line  somewhere  to  insure  a  good  foundation. 


CONFERENCE  OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  89 

Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  move  an  amendment 
before  that  goes  through,  because  I  quite  assure  you  that  if  it  goes 
through  in  its  present  form  you  will  absolutely  lose  all  contact  with 
organizations  such  as  I  represent.  If  this  policy  is  laid  down,  it  is 
going  to  limit  the  activities  of  the  organization  in  dealing  with  this 
problem.  It  is  a  problem  that  necessitates  the  activity  of  every 
agency,  private  and  public,  in  order  to  deal  with  it  even  approxi- 
mately. I  quite  assure  you  that  if  this  section  is  passed  in  its  pres- 
ent shape  you  are  going  to  form  an  ineffective  body,  representing  a 
few  political  interests,  and  absolutely  cut  off  the  tremendous  activities 
of  these  organizations. 

I  therefore  move  an  amendment  to  the  effect  that  the  membership 
of  this  body  be  extended  so  as  to  include  representatives  of  all  inter- 
ested public  immigration  activities. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

The  Chairman.  You  have  he^rd  the  motion  that  this  resolution  be 
so  amended  as  to  include  all  immigration  agencies.  Are  you  ready 
for  the  amendment? 

Mr.  Packer.  Mr.  Chairman,  it  seems  to  me  that  if  we  do  not  limit 
this  association,  as  Mr.  Haynes  has  said,  we  are  going  to  be  abso- 
lutely unable  to  draw  the  line  anywhere.  Every  little  land  company 
is  an  immigration  organization,  whether  it  has  5  or  500  members, 
and  if  we  are  going  to  have  a  purely  official  organization,  I  would 
like  to  see  the  original  resolution  put  through  as  it  was  intended. 
It  may  be  dealing  in  things  not  bearing  directly  upon  this  resolution, 
but  I  attended  a  national  association  of  State  immigration  officials 
in  Chicago  last  July,  whose  purpose  was  this  very  thing — ^to  coop- 
erate— and  they  did  not  limit  the  membership  at  all,  and  the  associa- 
tion as  it  stands  to-day  is  non  est.  If  we  are  going  to  have  an  official 
organization,  I  think  that  it  should  consist  of  the  State  officials ;  and 
not  all  of  the  State  officials  are  appointed  for  political  reasons,  either. 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  make  another  point 
here.  The  gentlemen  who  represent  the  commercial  interests  say  that 
their  States  would  not  be  represented.  I  do  not  agree  with  them. 
We  know  that  the  States  of  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  others  of 
the  Southern  States  have  commissioners  of  labor,  they  have  commis- 
sioners of  agriculture,  in  some  cases  they  have  immigration  commis- 
sions, and  the  State  of  California  has  a  department  of  agriculture, 
I  believe;  it  certainly  has  a  labor  department.  Now,  the  fact  that 
those  organizations  are  not  represented  here  to-day  does  not  mean 
that  the  State  will  not  be  represented.  If  this  organization  becomes 
a  strong  and  active  organization,  it  seems  to  me  it  will  be  the  pur- 
pose of  t^at  organization  to  galvanize  those  departments  into  life, 
to  interest  them  in  these  problems,  and  that  the  commercial  organiza- 
tions should  get  back  of  their  own  representatives  in  the  State  and 


90  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

make  them  do  things,  but  let  the  States  themselves  be  officially  repre- 
sented in  this  body.  It  seems  to  me  that  is  one  of  the  biggest  things 
we  have  to  do — to  wake  up  the  heads  of  these  departments  in  the 
States  where  they  take  no  interest  in  the  thing. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  like  the  remarks  just  made.  It  seems 
to  me  they  are  just  to  the  point.  As  I  understand  it,  we  are  here  in 
the  interest  of  seeing  the  workingman  get  work  and  employers  get 
employees.  The  commercial  interests,  to  a  certain  extent,  work  along 
that  line,  but  they  are  doing  it  from  a  financial  standpoint.  We  are 
doing  it  for  the  State  and  for  the  good  of  humanity,  expecting  noth- 
ing out  of  it.  While  we  welcome  their  help  to  do  this,  still  I  am  of 
the  opinion  that  the  original  idea  in  that  resolution  is  the  proper 
one — that  the  organization  -should  be  composed  of  State  officials  and 
Federal  officials;  and,  as  a  later  resolution  cites,  that  we  urge  all  the 
States  to  organize  free  employment  bureaus  where  the  workingman 
can  go  and  get  in  communication  with  an  employer  without  cost,  and 
without  any  fear  of  having  his  last  dollar  taken  out  of  his  pocket 
and  of  being  sent  off  on  a  wild-goose  chase  among  strangers  to  starve 
or  beg  or  steal. 

Mr.  Da  WE.  Mr.  Chairman,  is  it  permitted  to  speak  again,  sir  ? 

The  Chairman.  If  there  are  no  objections. 

Mr.  Dawe.  I  fear  that  I  have  not  understood  clearly  the  object  of 
this  meeting.  As  I  understand  the  question  as  it  has  presented  itself 
to  the  mind  of  Mr.  Powderly,  this  meeting  is  a  conference  regarding 
the  distribution  of  immigration.  Isn't  that  stating  it  fairly,  Mr. 
Powderly  ? 

The  Chairman.  It  is.  The  intention,  of  course,  was  to  have  State 
officials,  but  I  will  state  to  the  conference  that  I  personally  invited 
Mr.  Dawe  and  Mr.  Lynch  because  I  thought  they  ought  to  be  here 
in  view  of  their  wide  experience  and  of  the  fact  that  they  represented 
so  much.  With  that  understanding  I  invited  them,  and  they  were 
to  be  under  no  restrictions;  they  were  to  have  the  use  of  the  floor 
the  same  as  anybody  else.  However,  this  is  another  matter  now. 
This  is  the  action  of  the  body,  with  which  I  have  nothing  to  do. 

Mr.  Dawe.  What  is  the  name  of  the  proposed  organization,  sir  ? 

The  Chairman.  The  resolution  states : 

A  permanent  organization  to  be  known  as  the  National  Conference  of  Immi- 
gration, Land,  and  Labor  OflBcials. 

Mr.  Dawe.  Well,  sir,  there  are  mighty  forces  that  are  in  operation 
ready  to  help  in  the  distribution  of  immigrants.  Those  forces  are 
by  no  means  embodied  in  the  State  labor  officials.  Take  the  State  of 
South  Carolina,  for  instance,  at  this  present  moment.  Its  whole 
effort  is  absolutely  nullified.  You  can  get  no  response  out  of  E.  J. 
Watson,  in  Columbia,  at  the  present  moment,  because  Gov.  Blease 
has  nullified  the  whole  force  and  intent  of  that  department    Yet 


CONtEBENCE  OF  STATE   OFEICIALS.  91 

South  Carolina  at  this  moment  is  anxious  to  have  the  right  sort  of 
immigration.  How  will  you  accomplish  what  you  desire  to  accom- 
plish when  there  is  nobody  there  that  can  officially  say  "  boo  to  a 
goose  "  in  connection  with  the  matter.  Mr.  Watson  dare  not  open 
his  mouth  as  a  State  official  because  Gov.  Blease  is  against  the  general 
idea  of  immigration.  Take  the  whole  South ;  and  I  can  speak  from 
knowledge,  because  I  have  traveled  it  fore  and  aft.  There  is  many  a 
man  who  gets  his  position  in  the  South — and  I  say  it  with  all  due 
respect  to  public  officials  here  or  elsewhere — by  going  into  the  farm- 
ing regions  and  saying  "Alabama  for  Alabama,"  "  Mississippi  for 
Mississippi,"  appealing  to  what  they  call  the  "  red  necks  "  to  oppose 
all  ideas  of  anyone  coming  in  from  outside.  The  same  is  true  in 
Georgia.  Yet,  nevertheless,  the  same  thoughtful  students  of  the 
statesmanship  involved  in  the  development  of  the  South  see  that 
there  is  a  howling  need  for  people  there  who  are  agriculturists.  You 
are  surely  going  to  hinder  your  effective  work,  sir,  in  the  branch  that 
is  placed  under  your  charge  if  you  can  deal  with  this  question  of 
distribution  only  through  State  officials.  Those  of  us  who  have 
moved  forward  in  the  problems  of  the  South  beyond  what  might  be 
called  State  officials  have  done  so  because  there  is  a  crying  need  for 
the  South  to  be  dealt  with  in  a  statesmanlike  way  and  not  in  a  purely 
and  puny  political  way.  I  hope  for  one  that  there  will  be  a  broader 
attitude  toward  this  matter  because  of  my  desire  to  see  your  bureau 
become  as  efficient  as  it  was  hoped  it  would  be. 

Mr.  Trenor.  Mr.  Chairman,  relying  upon  the  mighty  forces  that 
the  distinguished  last  speaker  refers  to  in  that  State,  I  think  that 
they  could  give  proof  of  their  might  and  their  force  by  insisting  that 
the  State  officials  shall  give  proper  representation  to  this  matter. 
This  conference  was  originally  called  as  a  conference  between  the 
Federal  Government  and  the  various  States  for  the  purpose  of  carry- 
ing out  the  idea  of  better  distribution.  While,  of  course,  we  are  all 
heartily  in  favor  of  cooperation  from  every  possible  side,  it  seems  to 
me  that  if  you  let  down  the  bars  and  start  to  take  in  every  immigra- 
tion concern  in  the  United  States  it  will  be  practically  illimitable. 
Even  the  man  who  sells  half  a  dozen  tickets  to  a  batch  of  immigrants 
would  constitute  himself  a  part  of  this  body.  It  seems  to  me,  also, 
that  all  those  States  that  are  so  vitally  interested  and  so  ably  repre- 
sented here  will  see  to  it  that  their  State  officials  take  sufficient  in- 
terest in  this  question  to  come  into  cooperation  with  the  Government, 
and  for  that  reason  I  move  that  the  original  resolution  stand. 

(Mr.  Lounsberry  and  Mr.  Lynch  rose.) 

The  Chairman.  The  two  gentlemen  who  have  just  risen  have 
already  spoken.  However,  I  recognized  Mr.  Dawe  and  I  will  recog- 
nize Mr.  Lynch  later  on,  because  I  know  he  is  vitally  interested. 


92  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHERS. 

Mr.  GuYE.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  just  came  in  and  I  rise  to  a  question 
of  information  as  a  means  of  ascertaining  what  the  question  before 
the  house  is  ? 

The  Chairman.  The  chair  will  read  it  for  you. 

(The  chairman  thereupon  read  the  first  section  of  the  proposed 
resolution.) 

Mr.  GuYE.  I  think  probably  that  gives  the  information  I  desire. 
I  notice  from  the  discussion  here  that  the  organization  is  intended  to 
include  bureaus  of  labor,  free  employment  bureaus,  and  immigration 
officials.    Is  that  true? 

The  Chairman.  "  Immigration,  land,  and  labor  officials,"  it  says. 

Mr.  Denechaud.  Mr.  Chairman,  may  I  ask  a  question  ? 

The  Chairman.  Certainly. 

Mr.  Denechaud.  In  States  which  have  g,  bureau  of  immigration 
and  agriculture  and  a  labor  bureau  as  well,  will  that  make  both 
eligible  to  membership  ? 

The  Chairman.  I  would  so  rule,  unless  the  committee  has  con- 
sidered that  phase  of  it  and  decided  otherwise. 

Mr.  Denechaud.  I  would  be  afraid  then  that  a  serious  objection 
might  arise.  For  instance,  in  Louisiana  I  do  not  believe  that  we 
work  along  parallel  lines;  that  is,  for  the  present.  At  present  I  am 
taking  the  broad  ground  that  I,  as  a  representative  of  the  bureau  of 
immigration  in  my  State,  am  anxious  to  bring  into  the  State  all 
desirable  people,  not  only  for  the  farm  but  for  our  other  industries, 
and  I  do  not  believe  that  is  the  attitude  of  the  bureau  of  labor.  I 
think  they  take  the  stand  that  there  are  enough  people  in  Louisiana 
just  at  the  present  time  to  supply  our  needs.  So  that  if  both  organi- 
zations were  admitted  on  a  parity,  I  do  not  believe  that  our  advance- 
ment would  be  along  rapid  lines.  I  may  do  the  other  bureau  an 
injustice,  but  it  is  an  impression  that  I  have  formed,  judging  by  their 
work  in  the  past  few  months. 

I  am  thoroughly  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  resolution  that 
limits  it  to  purely  State  authorities,  because  in  my  opinion  if  we 
should  admit  other  organizations  we  would  not  know  where  to  draw 
the  line.  In  Louisiana  we  have  progressive  leagues  situated  in  about 
20  different  cities,  and  all  have  for  one  of  their  objects  the  bringing 
in  of  immigration  to  that  particular  locality.  We  have  also  the 
Progressive  Union  in  New  Orleans  (a  branch  of  the  National  Immi- 
gration League),  the  Catholic  Colonization  Society,  etc.,  probably 
30  or  40  organizations.  Now,  each  one  would  be  entitled  to  member- 
ship, and,  in  my  opinion,  that  would  make  this  organization  rather 
a  top-heavy  one,  while  the  State,  represented  through  its  duly  consti- 
tuted authorities,  would  often  be  relegated  to  the  rear.  You  would 
not  hear  the  State's  side;  you  would  hear  the  various  commercial  or- 


CONFERENCE  OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  93 

ganizations.  But  I  believe,  in  my  State,  that  my  department  is  re- 
ceiving now  the  active  cooperation  and  backing  of  the  best  commercial 
interests  that  we  have  along  organized  lines. 

Mr.  Haines,  of  Utah.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  notice  in  resolution  3  one 
clause  states  that  the  object  of  this  conference  shall  be  "  to  enlist 
the  aid  and  cooperation  of  commercial,  civic,  philanthropic,  and  other 
organizations  in  the  above  objects."  Now,  I  think  that  covers,  to 
some  extent,  the  objections  raised  by  members  of  this  conference. 
They  are  invited  to  aid  us  and  to  cooperate  in  this  matter,  and  as  the 
gentleman  states,  if  we  take  in  all  the  commercial  bodies  and  every- 
thing of  that  kind,  it  will  make  this  organization  top-heavy.  It  will 
be  too  unwieldly  to  handle. 

Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  must  apologize,  because  I  perhaps 
misunderstood  exactly  the  constitution  of  this  body,  and  I  would  not 
care  to  violate  any  of  the  courtesies  which  were  granted  me.  I  think 
when  we  talk  of  State  organizations  we  may  possibly  not  include 
those  that  are  really  State  organizations,  but  perhaps  are  not  so  con- 
stituted by  a  legislature.  For  instance,  the  governor  of  the  State 
has  been  president  of  our  particular  organization,  and  the  governors 
of  10  Western  States  have  been  appointed  delegates  to  form  a  large 
organization  known  as  the  Western  Development  League,  which,  in 
almost  a  direct  way,  is  official,  and  yet  could  not  be  recognized  as 
such  in  this  body. 

For  your  information,  I  would  say  that  the  whole  scheme  of  immi- 
gration for  the  West  will  mean  a  cooperation  at  least  between  Oregon 
and  Washington  and  California,  and  I  am  going  to  make  a  direct  at- 
tempt to  get.  together  all  of  the  Pacific  slope  in  a  direct  cooperative 
policy.  I  think  a  movement  of  that  kind  ought  somehow  to  be  directly 
related  to  such  an  organization  as  this;  because  I  assure  you  that  in 
many  cases  we  leave  high  and  dry  the  illy  equipped  and  illy  financed 
State  organizations.  Take,  for  instance,  the  labor  bureau  in  our 
State.  It  has  never  touched  this  problem  at  all.  It  collects  sta- 
tistics; it  has  very  few  inquiries;  we  have  thousands  every  week, 
and  we  are  dealing  directly  with  the  question.  I  have  been  sent  to 
Europe,  and  will  go  back  again,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  in  vital 
touch,  and  keeping  our  people  in  vital  touch,  with  the  whole  situation. 

Now,  perhaps,  it  is  wise  to  limit  it  somewhere.  Perhaps  it  is  wise 
to  limit  it  as  this  original  r^olution  states ;  but  I  would  be  very  sorry, 
I  must  confess,  to  see  excluded  such  activities  as  are  inaugurated  in 
the  West,  and  which  are  just  as  official  in  reality,  if  not  directly,  as 
the  State  bureaus.  I  do  not  know  just  exactly  how  to  solve  it,  but  I 
rather  think  that  the  fear  that  has  been  expressed  that  there  would  be 
too  large  a  membership  is  not  well  founded.  I  respectfully  submit 
that  it  is  rather  difficult  to  get  people  together  that  are  interested.  I 
venture  to  say  that  if  you  sent  out  a  call  all  over  the  country  and 


94  DISTKIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

invited  everybody  in  you  might  not  have  a  bunch  of  people  any 
larger  than  you  have  here  to-day.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  get  everybody 
in;  and,  besides,  a  body  like  this  is  not  a  legislative  body,  and  it  is 
not  going  to  have  such  a  tremendous  effect  as  would  the  action  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States.  I  think  we  scent  a  great  many  dan- 
gers there  that  perhaps  do  not  have  any  existence  in  reality. 

I  am  perfectly  willing  to  withdraw  that  amendment,  and  would  sug- 
gest to  the  committee  that  they  might,  if  they  see  it  in  their  wisdom, 
propose  some  amendment  that  would  include  at  least  organizations 
that  are  official  in  reality,  though  not  exactly  so  constituted. 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  rather  gathered  from  Mr.  Lynches 
remarks  that  they  had  not  cooperated  with  their  State  organizations 
in  California,  and  that  they  were  perfectly  sure  that  the  commercial 
bodies  were  the  best  way  of  doing  it.  I  am  not  perfectly  clear  just 
how  your  commercial  organizations  would  be  harmed  in  any  way,  or 
their  activities  restricted,  by  your  affiliation  with  this  body,  when 
you  are  not  affiliated  with  your  State  body.  You  have  a  State  de- 
partment of  labor  or  department  of  agriculture  interested  in  dis- 
tributing lands,  have  you  not  ?  And  a  bureau  of  statistics,  have  you 
not? 

Mr.  Lynch.  No;  our  organization  carries  that  out.  We  publish 
the  official  statistics  for  the  State. 

Miss  Kellor.  What  is  the  organization  ? 

Mr.  Lynch.  The  California  Development  Board. 

Miss  Kellor.  I  think  that  is  absolutely  wrong — ^that  the  statistics 
of  the  great  State  of  California  should  be  published  by  a  private 
organization. 

Mr.  Lynch.  Of  course,  they  have  some  statistics;  but  the  real 
statistics  of  the  State,  I  quite  assure  you,  are  issued  by  our  organiza- 
tion. 

Mr.  Daniels.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  agree  with  the  gentleman  from 
California  that  such  organizations  as  his  should  take  a  part  in  this 
movement,  but  I  think  the  gentleman  will  agree  that  unless  the  line 
of  full  membership  is  drawn  somewhere,  it  will  get  the  organization 
into  difficulties.  All  sorts  of  "  wildcat "  organizations  that  ought 
not  to  be  in  will  be  applying  for  membership.  Would  it  not,  there- 
fore, be  better  to  limit  the  full  membership  to  official  bodies  and 
official  representatives,  and  for  the  executive  committee,  when  it  is 
elected,  to  work  out  some  scheme  of  close  affiliation  with  such  bodies 
as  the  gentleman  from  California  represents?  I  hope  it  will  be  the 
pleasure  of  the  conference  to  allow  the  thing  to  go  in  that  way,  so 
that  we  can  get  this  first  resolution  out  of  the  way  and  advance  to 
others  that  really  call  for  more  discussion. 

The  Chairman.  I  believe  Mr.  Lynch  himself  suggested  that  his 
amendment  be  withdrawn.     I  think  from  the  temper  of  the  house 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  95 

that  that  amendment  might  possibly  be  voted  down,  and  I  would 
rather  have  it  withdrawn  than  voted  down,  if  the  seconder  will  not 
object.    I  hear  no  objection. 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman.  The  second  section  is: 

Resolved,  That  this  conference  establish,  during  the  ensuing  year,  such  offices 
and  at  such  points  as  the  executive  committee  shall  determine,  provided  funds 
therefor  can  be  obtained. 

Mr.  Trenor.  I  move  the  adoption  of  the  resolution. 

Mr.  Harris.  I  second  the  motion. 

Mr.  Packer.  Mr.  Chairman,  what  source  is  this  money  to  be  de- 
rived from? 

The  Chairman.  I  call  upon  the  chairman  of  the  committee. 

Miss  Kellor.  The  chairman  of  the  committee  had  in  mind  that 
probably  no  appropriations  could  be  obtained  from  the  States  until 
the  experiment  had  been  tried,  and  that  probably  we  should  have  to 
rely  upon  private  funds.  I  think  that  New  York  would  be  willing  to 
take  the  lead  in  raising  these  funds.  I  think  Wisconsin  has  facilities, 
and  also  the  Central  Western  States.  I  think  we  could  not  ask  the 
States  for  appropriations  before  trying  the  experiment. 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman.  The  third  section  is: 

Resolved,  That  the  objects  of  this  conference  shall  be: 

(1)  To  arouse  public  sentiment  (a)  favoring  increased  congressional  appro- 
priation enabling  the  Federal  division  of  information  of  the  bureau  of  informa- 
tion of  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor 
to  induce  admitted  foreign-born  and  native  people  to  leave  congested  population 
centers  and  go  to  agricultural  and  other  industries;  (6)  favoring  the  creation  of 
State  bureaus  of  immigration  and  information,  with  representatives  at  ports  of 
entry,  and  appropriations  therefor  by  the  several  States;  (c)  favoring  the  ex- 
tension of  the  activities  of  such  bureaus  for  the  protection,  education,  and  as- 
similation of  immigrants;  {d)  favoring  the  fullest  cooperation  between  the 
several  State  bureaus  and  between  the  State  bureaus  and  the  Federal  division 
of  information  in  the  above  objects. 

(2)  To  enlist  the  aid  and  cooperation  of  commercial,  civic,  philanthropic,  and 
and  other  organizations  in  the  above  objects. 

Mr.  Brown,  of  New  Jersey.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  the  adoption 
of  the  section  as  read. 

Mr.  Walker.  I  second  the  motion. 

Mr.  Harris.  That  is  the  first  paragraph  of  it,  as  I  understand. 

The  Chairman.  I  believe  the  motion  was  to  adopt  it  as  a  whole. 

Mr.  Harris.  I  would  like  to  amend  it  and  adopt  the  first  paragraph 
only ;  that  we  adopt  only  the  first  paragraph  and  consider  it  by  para- 
graphs. I  take  it  each  one  of  these  paragraphs  is  practically  a  reso- 
lution by  itself. 

Mr.  BUiNES,  of  Utah.  They  are  all  good,  are  they  not? 


96  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND   OTHERS. 

•  The  Chairman.  Is  there  any  objection  to  any  of  them?  That  is 
the  question. 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  The  congested  centers  referred  to  there  are  con- 
gested centers  in  this  country? 

The  Chairman.  Undoubtedly.  It  says  "  admitted  aliens."  Are 
you  ready  for  the  question  ? 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  look  over  this  for  a 
few  moments. 

The  Chairman.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  too  hasty. 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  suggest  that  if  possi- 
ble, in  view  of  the  objection  from  the  commercial  interests,  some  addi- 
tion be  made  to  No.  2,  "  To  enlist  the  aid  and  cooperation  of  commer- 
cial, civic,  philanthropic,  and  other  organizations  in  the  above 
objects."  Perhaps  the  gentleman  can  suggest  some  way  by  which  we 
could  have  auxiliary  committees  or  cooperating  bodies.  Perhaps 
you  could  frame  that  paragraph  in  some  way  so  as  to  express  what 
you  want.  Is  there  any  addition  that  you  could  make  to  No.  2 
strengthening  that  cooperation?  You  might  add  some  clause  to  the 
effect  that  where  the  officials  are  duly  appointed  for  specific  pur- 
poses, or  something  of  that  kind,  there  might  be  some  cooperation 
established.     I  simply  make  that  as  a  suggestion. 

Mr.  Lynch.  I  would  suggest  that  all  organizations  that  are  carry- 
ing out  this  work^  and  who  obtain  official  recognition  from  the  States, 
should  be  admitted  to  membership  in  this  body.  For  instance,  sup- 
posing the  governor  should  appoint  some  member,  or  suppose  he 
should  come  himself  as  president  of  our  organization,  he  would  be 
excluded  by  your  first  clause.  The  governor  of  the  State  could  not 
come.     It  reads,  "  Immigration,  land,  and  labor  officials." 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  Every  State  official  is  included. 

The  Chairman.  I  would  rule  that  the  governor  of  the  State  him- 
self or  anyone  appointed  under  State  authority  for  the  purpose  of  at- 
tending the  convention  would  be  eligible  to  membership. 

Mr.  Lynch.  Of  course,  in  that  regard,  I  can  produce  several  State 
appointments  if  necessary.  But  this  is  a  permanent  body.  A  man 
might  be  appointed  temporarily.  I  do  not  see  how  that  would  work 
out.  In  one  sense  I  am  eligible  here,  and  in  another  sense  I  am  not. 
The  governor  could  easily  indicate  his  desire  to  allow  some  man  to 
attend  the  meeting,  and  he  might  be  appointed  an  officer  of  this  body, 
but  that  appointment  probably  would  not  continue  indefinitely, 
would  it  ? 

The  Chairman.  Until  his  successor  should  be  appointed,  of  course. 
That  would  rest  in  the  discretion  of  the  governor. 

Mr.  Lynch.  For  instance,  we  have  all  the  counties  of  the  State  rep- 
resented in  our  organization,  and  we  are  an  official  organization,  and 
yet  we  would  not  come  under  this  proposition. 


CONFERENCE  OF   STATE  OFFICIALS.  97 

The  Chairman.  Let  me  say  that  from  the  beginning  of  the  divi-^ 
sion  up  to  the  present  time  we  have  cooperated  with  the  California 
Development  Board. 

Mr.  Lynch.  I  would  like  to  say  a  word,  if  you  will  excuse  me,  in 
regard  to  the  suggestion  that  Mr.  Harris  made — that  the  State  im- 
migration bureaus  are  quite  philanthropic  and  wide  and  the  others 
are  selfish.  We  haven't  a  thing  to  sell.  We  will  match  coins  with 
you  on  that  situation  every  minute.  We  are  engaged  in  a  purely 
public  enterprise  along  the  very  highest  lines  upon  which  we  can 
place  it. 

The  Chairman.  The  chairman  of  the  committee  has  asked  you  to 
suggest  something  in  lieu  of  No.  2. 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  Following  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Lynch, 
of  California,  I  move  to  amend  resolution  1  by  adding  after  the 
words  "  restricted  to  State  and  Federal  officials "  the  words  "  and 
their  representatives,"  and  I  move  the  adoption  of  that  amendment 
to  resolution  1  in  the  idea  that  it  will  fully  meet  the  requirements  of 
Mr.  Lynch  and  of  organizations  such  as  he  is  connected  with. 

The  Chairman.  Let  me  make  a  suggestion.  You  have  passed 
upon  that.  Other  matters  may  come  up.  Make  a  note  of  it  just 
as  you  have  said  it,  and  then  after  you  have  passed  upon  the  other 
resolutions  return  to  No.  1,  so  that  you  may  get  at  this  in  a  proper 
way.  What  do  you  say  to  that ?  Are  there  any  objections?  [After 
a  pause.]  I  hear  none.  The  question,  then,  is  on  the  second  resolu- 
tion. 

Mr.  Harris.  I  wish  to  withdraw  my  objection  to  adopting  the 
whole  thing. 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman.  The  next  is: 

Resolved,  That  the  executive  committee  of  this  conference  be  instructed  to 
prepare,  in  cooperation  with  the  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Information  of  the 
Bureau  of  Immigration  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  amend- 
ments enlarging  the  powers  of  scid  division  to  deal  with  interstate  problems 
affecting  the  distribution,  protection,  and  welfare  of  admitted  aliens  and  en- 
abling the  said  division  to  establish  branches  at  such  centers  of  distribution  as 
may  be  deemed  advisable. 

What  is  your  pleasure? 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  the  adoption  of  the  resolution 
as  read. 

Mr.  Cunningham.  I  second  that  motion,  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Trenor.  After  "  admitted  aliens "  there  should  be  inserted 
"  and  other  people  resident  hei^." 

The  Chairman.  That  is  quite  right. 
23508°— 12 7 


98  DISTKIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND   OTHEBS. 

Miss  Kellor.  As  amended,  Mr.  Chairman,  it  should  be  "  the  dis- 
tribution, protection,  and  welfare  of  admitted  aliens  and  other  resi- 
dents." 

The  Chairman.  Does  the  mover  accept  the  amendment  ? 

Mr.  Harris.  I  do. 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman.  The  next  section  is: 

Resolved,  That  this  conference  recommend  the  establishment  of  State  employ- 
ment bureaus  in  the  various  States  and  the  enactment  of  laws  safeguarding 
laborers  in  search  of  employment. 

What  is  your  pleasure? 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  you  that  this  be  amended  by 
inserting  the  word  "free"  at  the  end  of  the  first  line,  making  it 
"State  free  employment  bureaus." 

Mr.  Walker.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  second  that. 

The  Chairman.  There  is  no  motion  yet  to  adopt  it. 

Mr.  Walker.  I  move  that  we  adopt  it  as  read  and  amended. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried. 

The  Chairman.  The  next  is : 

Resolved,  That  the  present  conference  respectfully  express  to  the  honorable 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  its  hope  that  he  will  find  it  possible  and 
agreeable  to  have  the  proceedings  of  the  present  conference  separately  published 
by  his  department  at  as  early  a  date  as  may  prove  feasible  and  in  sufficient 
number  for  widespread  distribution. 

Mr.  Denechaud.  I  move  the  adoption  of  that  resolution. 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  I  second  the  motion. 

Mr.  Harris.  I  would  like  to  speak  on  that  motion.  Mr.  Chair- 
man, I  think  this  is  a  very  important  resolution,  so  far  as  the  benefit 
to  follow  this  meeting  is  concerned.  The  rambling  remarks  that 
have  been  made  here  in  this  hall,  while  they  were  largely  impromptu, 
contained,  in  my  opinion,  many  germs  of  valuable  information.  I 
know  I  can  pick  out  a  great  deal,  especially  if  I  receive  a  printed 
copy,  which  I  would  otherwise  forget  and  lose  the  benefit  of.  I 
really  think  this  is  all-important,  and  if  you  can  have  this  printed 
and  sent  out,  the  sooner  the  better. 

The  Chairman.  You  do  not  object,  then? 

Mr.  Harris.  No  ;  I  do  not. 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman.  Now,  we  will  return  to  resolution  1.  A  member 
of  the  committee  was  asked  to  retain  in  mind  the  words  he  would 
have  added  to  that  resolution,  and  a  motion  to  reconsider  that  will 
be  in  order  that  we  may  act  upon  it. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  make  that  motion. 

Mr.  LouNSBERRY.  I  secoud  the  motion. 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  99 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move,  with  respect  to 
section  1,  that  we  add  after  the  words  "  restricted  to  State  and 
Federal  officials  "  the  words  "  and  their  representatives,"  thinking 
that  that  phraseology  will  bring  in  all  such  associations  as  Mr.  Lynch, 
of  California,  represents. 

Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  Would  like  to  ask  this  question  in 
that  connection.  Supposing  there  are  several  representatives  from  a 
State,  would  this  open  up  the  question  to  as  many  representatives  as 
should  bring  official  credentials,  or  would  you  find  that  it  should  be 
mutually  exclusive,  as,  for  instance 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  I  think  this  phraseology  would  include 
any  man  whom  the  governor  or  the  proper  authority  of  the  State 
should  designate  as  representing  these  several  subjects. 

Mr.  Lynch.  Or  that  the  State  organization  should  designate,  ac- 
cording to  your  phraseology. 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  Anybody  who  can  get  the  recognition  of 
the  governor  of  his  own  State  for  an  appointment  for  these  specific 
purposes  stated  here  in  the  first  paragraph,  I  think,  ought  to  be 
eligible  to  membership. 

Mr.  Trenor.  I  suggest  that  it  be  amended  to  read  "  or  their  duly 
appointed  representatives." 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  That  is  better. 

Mr.  Lynch.  By  executive  authority? 

The  Chairman.  This  would  leave  it  optional  with  them.  They 
would  know  whom  to  appoint.  I  have  no  doubt  at  all  but  Mr.  Dawe 
could  come  with  credentials  from  any  Southern  State. 

Are  you  ready  for  the  amendment  ? 

Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Chairman,  that  is  all  right,  and  I  appreciate  the 
courtesy  of  having  it  amended  so  as  to  include  such  gentlemen  as  Mr. 
Dawe  and  others.  Nevertheless,  I  would  like  still  to  maintain,  if 
you  have  an  organization  of  purely  State  officials,  while  it  would  of 
course  bring  in  some  of  us,  it  is  going  to  be  in  the  long  run  a  very 
restricted  body.  These  organizations,  such  as  I  represent,  are  volun- 
tary bodies  and  they  are  doing  public  work  in  the  strongest  way,  and 
I  maintain  that  this  organization  will  never  reach  probably  its 
fullest  power  until  some  scheme  is  devised  which  will  include  all 
proper  agencies  engaged  in  this  work. 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Lynch,  wouldn't  you  like  to  give  the  States  of 
this  Union  a  chance  this  first  year  to  see  what  they  can  do  without 
the  aid  of  the  commercial  bodies  ? 

Mr.  Lynch.  Yes;  I  would. 

Miss  Kellor.  I  am  bound  to  believe  that  the  States  of  the  Union 
are  stronger  than  the  commercial  bodies.  We  want  the  States  of  this 
Union  to  get  back  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  the  Federal 
Government  to  get  back  of  the  States  of  this  Union.     [Applause.] 


100  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

Mr.  Walker.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  the  adoption  of  that  article 
as  amended. 

Mr.  Haynes,  of  Nebraska.  I  second  the  motion. 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  carried. 

The  Chairman.  The  question  is  upon  the  adoption  of  the  resolu- 
tions as  a  whole,  as  read,  amended,  and  acted  on.  What  is  your 
pleasure  ? 

Mr.  Ross.  Mr.  Chairman,  might  I  inquire  from  the  chairman  of 
the  committee  why  the  word  "  conference  "  is  used  instead  of  the 
word  "association"  or  "organization"?  The  word  "  conference," 
of  course,  is  properly  applicable  to  this  initial  meeting  because  it  is 
in  the  nature  of  a  conference,  and  if  there  is  any  particular  reason 
why  the  word  "  conference  "  instead  of  the  customary  word  "  associa- 
tion "  should  be  used,  I  would  like  to  know  it.  If  there  is  ilo  good 
reason  why  it  should  be  used,  I  would  favor  the  substitution  of  the 
word  "  association  "  or  "  organization." 

Miss  Kellor.  I  think  the  committee  had  in  mind,  perhaps,  at  this 
stage  more  of  the  conferring  together  than  directly  administrative 
work.  We  had  in  mind,  for  instance,  the  word  which  is  used  in  re- 
gard to  the  meeting  of  irrigation  officials — the  conference  on  irriga- 
tion ;  and  in  most  of  the  national  bodies  like  the  National  Conference 
of  Corrections  and  Charities,  they  used  the  word  "  conference  "  where 
the  purpose  is  more  in  the  line  of  propaganda  work  and  conferring 
than  direct  administrative  work  in  each  State.  That  was  all  we  had 
in  mind. 

The  Chairman.  Does  that  answer  your  question,  Mr.  Ross  ? 

Mr.  Ross.  Yes. 

The  Chairman.  T\Tiat  is  the  pleasure  of  the  house? 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  idea  has  struck  me,  from  the  talk 
that  has  been  going  on,  whether  it  would  not  be  well  for  us  to  make 
some  restriction.  As  I  understand  it,  one  State  under  these  rules 
could  have  50  members  in  this  conference  if  it  wanted  to. 

Mr.  Ross.  The  more  the  better. 

Mr.  Harris.  No;  I  think  not.  So  far  as  that  is  concerned,  Cali- 
fornia has  to  come  here,  and  it  takes  about  four  days,  I  suppose. 

Mr.  Ross.  You  will  come  in  flying  ships  at  the  next  conference. 
[Laughter.] 

The  Chairman.  I  think,  Mr.  Harris,  you  need  have  no  apprehen- 
sions on  that  score,  because  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  nearest  States, 
has  not  sent  one  representative  to  this  conference. 

Mr.  Harris.  One  State  should  have  just  as  good  representation  as 
another,  and  there  should  be  some  restriction  as  to  membership. 
Now,  if  there  is  a  labor  commissioner,  and  an  agricultural  commis- 
sioner, and  a  free-employment  commissioner  in  these  States,  and 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  101 

maybe  half  a  dozen  other  commissioners,  are  they  all  entitled  to  mem- 
bership in  this  conference  ? 

Mr.  Ross.  Sure. 

Mr.  Harris.  It  does  not  seem  just  to  other  States. 

Mr.  Daniels.  Mr.  Chairman,  as  I  understand,  that  clause  relating 
to  membership  says  that  the  membership  shall  be  restricted  to  these 
people.  It  does  not  say  that  all  such  people  shall  be  let  in.  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  resolution  clearly  puts  it  up  to  the  executive  committee 
or  any  other  duly  appointed  inner  body  to  decide  just  what  organiza- 
tions shall  come — simply  that  all  those  that  come  in  must  be  organiza- 
tions of  these  particular  sorts. 

The  Chairman.  That  point  has  been  settled,  anyway,  by  your 
adoption  of  the  resolution.  Let  me  say,  before  you  move  to  adopt  as 
a  whole,  that  until  I  came  in  here  yesterday  morning  and  saw  your 
smiling  and  handsome  countenances  I  was  shaking  in  my  shoes  for 
fear  I  would  not  have  half  a  dozen  here.  [Laughter.]  Don't  be 
afraid  of  having  too  many. 

Mr.  Kracke.  Mr.  Chairman,  for  the  purpose  of  answering  Mr. 
Harris,  I  will  say  that  in  a  similar  organization  to  this — the  Associa- 
tion of  State  and  National  Food  and  Dairy  Departments — every 
State  is  invited  to  participate  and  every  State  is  entitled  to  three 
votes.  The  States  may  have  as  many  individuals  present  as  it  wants 
to,  but  nevertheless  it  is  limited  to  three  votes.  If  there  are  six,  they 
are  entitled  to  half  a  vote  apiece. 

The  Chairman.  Anyway,  this  is  just  building  up.  You  will  make 
better  progress  at  the  next  meeting.    Don't  be  a  bit  afraid. 

Mr.  Lynch.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  no  sulker.  While  I  disagree 
with  the  fundamental  proposition  here,  I  would  like  to  say  that  I 
will  go  back  and  try  to  organize  and  get  to  work  as  soon  as  possible. 
[Applause.] 

Upon  motion  duly  made,  seconded,  and  carried,  the  resolution  was 
adopted  as  a  whole. 

[The  resolution  as  finally  adopted  appears  in  the  front  of  this 
volume,  immediately  after  the  list  of  delegates.] 

The  Chairman.  What  is  the  further  pleasure  of  the  house? 

Mr.  Daniels.  I  suppose  the  next  matter  to  be  settled  is  to  elect 
officers  and  an  executive  committee.  I  would  therefore  move  the  ap- 
pointment by  the  Chair  of  a  committee  of  five  members,  or  any  other 
number  which  he  may  deem  wise,  to  recommend  nominations  for 
officers  and  an  executive  committee  and  to  recommend  also  what 
officers  and  how  large  an  executive  committee  there  should  be. 

Mr.  Haines,  of  Utah.     I  second  the  motion. 

Mr.  Harris.  Mr.  Chairman,  as  a  substitute  for  that  I  would  like 
to  move  that  the  temporary  organization  be  made  permanent. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 


102  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

The  Chairman.  I  would  like  to  ask  that  you  withdraw  that. 

Mr.  Harris.  I  think  it  may  expedite  business,  but  if  you  insist  I 
will  withdraw  it. 

The  Chairman.  I  think  you  will  understand  the  position  of  the 
Chair  on  that  matter,  and  I  hope  you  will  withdraw  it 

Mr.  Harris.  Very  well. 

The  Chairman.  Are  you  ready  for  the  question  ? 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  carried. 

The  Chairman.  I  will  appoint  the  mover  of  the  motion,  Mr.  Dan- 
iels; Mr.  Denechaud,  of  Louisiana;  Mr.  Packer,  of  Wisconsin;  Mr. 
Ross,  of  Illinois;  and  Mr.  McLaughlin,  of  California. 

Now,  before  you  do  anything  else,  let  me  call  your,  attention  to 
one  thing.  I  don't  know  whether  any  of  you  are  familiar  with  the 
work  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution.  They  drew  up  a 
pamphlet  entitled  "  Information  for  Immigrants,"  and,  at  their  own 
expense,  published  it,  giving  to  the  Federal  Government,  through 
the  Division  of  Information,  an  opportunity  to  circulate  it.  That  is 
printed  in  some  14  languages.  They  afterwards  drew  up  another 
one  upon  naturalization,  and  now  they  have,  in  very  handsome  form, 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  I  referred  to  these  matters 
briefly  yesterday.  It  seems  to  me  that  such  publications  as  these, 
having  been  passed  upon  by  all  the  Government  officials,  .from  the 
Secretary  down,  and  having  received  their  approval,  should  be  sent 
out  by  the  division,  and  I  would  like,  if  you  feel  so  disposed,  to  have 
this  conference  signify  its  approval  of  the  work  done.  You  have 
all  seen  those  pamphlets  and  know  the  value  of  them,  and  if  some 
one  would  make  a  motion  that  you  approve  of  the  work  of  the  Sons 
and  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  I  think  it  would  be  a 
gracious  thing,  because  they  have  given  us  a  great  help. 

What  is  your  pleasure? 

Mr.  LouNSBLiiRY.  I  make  the  motion  in  accordance  with  your  sug- 
gestion. 

The  Chairman.  The  Chair  will  put  it  in  writing  later. 

Miss  Kjjllor.  May  I  suggest  that  a  copy  be  sent  to  them? 

The  Chairman.  Yes ;  "  and  that  a  copy  be  sent  to  these  organiza- 
tions." 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

[These  resolutions  appear  on  page  8.] 

The  Chairman.  The  Daughters'  book  is  on  the  desk.  I  have  only 
one  copy  of  it.  It  is  the  Guide  to  the  United  States,  first  designed 
for  the  Italian  immigrant  and  printed  in  Italian — Guide  to  the 
United  States  for  the  Italian  Immigrant,  by  John  Foster  Carr,  to 
whom  they  assigned  the  duty  of  writing  it.  That  contains  informa- 
tion for  the  immigrant,  and,  if  you  take  my  word  for  it,  it  is  a  most 
valuable  document.  They  are  now  about  to  publish  it  in  all  of  the 
languages,  so  that  every  man  of  every  race  coming  to  our  shores  will 


CONFERENCE  OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  108 

find  in  this  little  book  a  complete  manual  of  instructions  for  his 
guidance  while  here. 

What  is  the  further  pleasure  of  the  house? 

Mr.  Haynes  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  if  we  are  through  for 
the  moment  with  the  regular  order  of  business,  I  would  like  per- 
mission to  address  the  conference  for  a  few  minutes. 

The  Chairman.  Mr.  Haynes  is  recognized. 

Mr.  Haynes  of  Nebraska.  Mr.  Chairman,  ladies,  and  gentlemen, 
I  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks  to  the  conference  this  morning  as  a 
special  delegate  f^m  Nebraska,  and  to  state,  in  as  brief  a  form  as 
possible,  the  interest  that  Nebraska  feels,  and,  I  think,  the  States 
adjoining,  in  the  work  contemplated  by  this  conference. 

Nebraska,  according  to  official  figures  compiled  by  Mr.  Guye,  who 
is  here  to-day,  has,  I  believe,  something  like  19,000,000  acres  under 
cultivation,  and,  according  to  his  estimate,  we  have  something  like 
15,000,000  acres  known  to  be  tillable  and  not  occupied.  The  last 
census  makes  evident  the  fact  that  we  are  losing  in  the  number  of 
agricultural  producers;  it  makes  evident  the  fact  that  Iowa,  our 
neighboring  State,  has  lost  over  7  per  cent  of  agricultural  workers  in 
10  years.  The  representative  from  Iowa  pointed  out  the  loss  of 
population  in  that  State.  He  said  it  is  because  lowans  have  too 
much  money — that  they  are  becoming  landowners,  landlords,  adding 
to  their  acres,  while  the  young  men  have  to  go  west  to  find  cheaper 
lands  and  more  available  lands.  I  think  perhaps  that  is  so  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  but  that  does  not  do  away  with  the  fact,  gentlemen,  that 
Iowa  needs  not  only  farm  hands,  but  also  farm  renters.  Iowa  needs 
men  who  will  come  in  there  and  buy  the  farm  lands  and  settle  there ; 
and  that  is  also  the  vital  need  of  Nebraska. 

Kansas  is  ably  represented  here,  but  I  simply  want  to  refer  to  the 
fact  that  Kansas  and  Nebraska  are  in  the  same  situation  in  respect  to. 
loss  of  population  in  the  eastern  sections  of  those  States.  Nebraska 
has  increased  in  population  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  in  about 
the  same  degree  that  Kansas  has  increased  in  population  in  the 
western  part  of  that  State. 

There  is  something  radically  wrong,  gentlemen,  with  the  situation 
when  we  suffer  the  older  rich  and  prosperous  counties  of  Iowa, 
Kansas,  and  Nebraska  to  fall  off  in  population.  The  situation  is, 
such  as  to  force  thinking  men  to  take  up  the  subject  and  to  foster  and 
promote  all  such  movements  as  we  have  before  us  to-day.  I  see  in  the 
subject  much  more,  gentlemen,  than  the  mere  sending  hither  and  yon 
of  a  few  migratory  farm  laborers.  Of  course  we  need  the  farm  labor- 
ers in  season.  Every  State  needs  them.  We  must  have  them.  But 
what  we  primarily  need,  gentlemen,  is  a  movement  by  which  we  can 
enlist  the  leadership  and  cooperation  of  the  Federal  authorities  to 
help  us  get  men  from  the  congested-population  centers — I  do  not  care 


104  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND   OTHERS. 

whether  they  are  native  or  foreign  born — to  come  out  upon  our  mil- 
lions of  acres  and  till  them.  We  want  them  to  stay  upon  the  land; 
we  want  them  to  invest  their  money  there.  I  read  somewhere,  and  I 
think  it  is  official,  that  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Immigration  had 
gathered  statistics  to  the  effect  that  last  year  the  alien — I  will  not 
call  them  that ;  I  will  say  the  foreign-born — residents  of  the  United 
States  had  last  year  taken  from  this  country  back  to  the  foreign  coun- 
try from  which  they  came  and  of  which  they  are  natives  something 
like  $132,000,000.  The  figures  show  that  over  220,000  of  such  men 
left  our  ports  for  their  native  lands  with  an  average  of  $600  apiece. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  conceive  it  to  be  our  duty  to  publish  these  facts 
and  to  form  an  organization  whereby  the  States  of  the  West  and 
South  needing  these  men  shall  do  all  they  can  to  encourage  the  Fed- 
eral authorities  to  join  them  in  a  movement  which  eventually  will 
stop  this  outflow  of  cash. 

I  conceive  it  to  be  the  object  of  this  conference,  and  whatever 
permanent  organization  may  follow  in  its  wake,  to  unify  sentiment 
in  the  several  States  and  to  come  to  the  immigration  authorities  here 
with  a  concerted  plan,  a  plan  receiving  the  intelligent  support  of  the 
various  States,  and,  of  course,  the  most  important  point  in  that 
matter  would  relate  to  practical  cooperation  between  those  States 
and  the  Federal  authorities. 

I  want  to  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  this  country  has  never  seen 
such  cooperation.  The  people  at  large  do  not  realize  the  importance 
and  the  need  of  such  cooperation.  I  think  those  of  you  who  have 
studied  the  Federal  statutes  on  the  subject  will  agree  with  me  that 
they  are  in  a  sense  antagonistic  to  the  State  statutes  on  the  subject, 
where  States  have  any  such  statutes;  and  yet  here  grows  up  this 
great  and  increasing  need  of  unity  of  action.  Now,  if  we  do  not  ac- 
complish anything  further  here  than  to  tell  the  States  that  we  stand 
for  this  large  measure  of  cooperation,  we  shall  have  fully  met  the 
requirements  of  the  case  for  the  preliminary  conference.  We  want 
the  States  to  apprise  the  Federal  officials  here  of  the  fact  that  we 
want  to  get  together  arid  get  back  of  these  Federal  officials  in  the 
Immigration  Service  and  prove  to  them  that  we  are  in  sympathy 
.  with  what  they  are  trying  to  do,  to  prove  to  them  that  we  appre- 
ciate what  Mr.  Powderly  and  the  Secretary  have  already  said. 

The  address  by  the  Secretary  of  the  department  yesterday  I  con- 
strued to  be,  in  a  sense,  an  expression  of  a  new  policy,  yet  I  must 
not  try  to  put  words  in  his  mouth.  Speaking  for  myself,  I  can  only 
say  that  I  inferred — read  it  between  the  lines — that  the  department 
is  willing  and  ready  to  adopt  a  new  policy  concerning  this  subject. 
Now  when  I  say  "  new  policy  "  I  refer  to  the  formation — and  I  be- 
lieve that  we  are  here  to-day  at  the  very  start  of  the  formation — of 
a  domestic  immigration  policy  in  the  United  States.    I  believe  that 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  105 

that  is  what  this  meeting  means,  and  if  our  delegates  shall  go  back 
to  the  States  with  that  idea  in  view — the  formation  and  adoption  of 
a  domestic  immigration  policy — we  shall  bring  it  about. 

Look  at  the  last  report  of  the  United  States  Immigration  Com- 
mission, whose  tenure,  I  think,  has  expired ;  the  brief  of  their  report 
which  they  have  published.  I  presume  you  have  all  read  it,  but  it 
relates  almost  entirely  to  the  old  subject  of  the  further  restriction 
of  the  immigration  of  aliens  into  the  United  States.  I  have  no 
criticism  on  that.  I  do  not  want  to  say  anything  here  to-day  with 
respect  to  the  alien  before  he  gets  here:  I  am  not  concerned  in  that 
matter.  I  am  concerned  with  the  supervision  and  distribution  of  the 
immigrant  after  he  gets  here.  Immigrants  are  entering  at  the  rate 
of  a  million  a  3^ear.  I  want  to  say,  though,  in  passing,  that  I  regret 
that  the  United  States  Immigration  Conunission  did  not  go  further 
in  effect  than  to  rehearse  the  old-time  doctrine  which  we  find  in  our 
statutes,  confining  themselves  almost  solely  (where  they  touch  upon 
any  national  policy)  to  the  restriction  of  aliens.  But  I  do  not  want 
to  go  into  that ;  I  simply  want  to  refer  to  it  and  to  say  that  I  heartily 
regret  that  the  commission  did  not  evolve  anything  in  the  way  of  a 
domestic  immigration  policy  for  our  guidance  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  States. 

Gentlemen,  that  is  what  we  are  coming  to.  That  is  what  we  must 
liave — a  domestic  immigration  policy;  and  I  believe  that  one  of  the 
Representatives  in  Congress  will  introduce  a  bill  at  the  coming  ses- 
sion that  may  be  interpreted  as  a  starting  point  in  the  formulation 
of  a  domestic  immigration  policy. 

Now,  gentlemen,  you  have  read  the  statutes.  You  will  see  how  they 
antagonize  or  fail  to  conform  to  the  spirit  of  State  statutes.  You 
would  think  when  you  read  them  that  the  Federal  Government  is 
antagonistic  to  the  States  in  the  matter  of  immigration ;  maybe  that 
is  too  strong  a  word,  but  I  can  not  get  it  out  of  my  head;  whereas 
the  policy  should  be  one  of  unity  and  concert  of  action.  That  is  what 
we  are  here  to  bring  about.  I  am  here  to  tell  you  that  the  people  of 
the  West  want  such  cooperation  and  want  that  spirit  of  antagonism 
wiped  out  of  the  statutes.  We  want  to  work  conjointly  with  the  Fed- 
eral officials  to  bring  about  this  cooperation.  We  want  as  a  starting 
point  to  make  sentiment  which  will  bring  about  larger  appropria- 
tions at  the  hands  of  Congress  and  the  States,  to  pay  State  immigra- 
tion officials  and  Federal  immigration  officials  adequate  salaries  in 
order  to  get  the  best  grade  of  men  in  the  States.  We  want  the  di- 
vision of  which  Mr.  Powderly  is  the  head  to  be  financed  by  Congress 
to  such  an  extent  that  he  and  his  colleagues  may  put  into  operation 
machinery  which  will  have  a  practical  bearing  on  the  situation, 
which  will  enable  him  to  send  his  men  into  the  field,  into  the  large 
population  centers,  and  induce  thousands  of  men  through  Govern- 


106  DISTRIBUTION    OF   ADMITTED   ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

ment  influence  to  leave  the  cities  and  go  into  the  States  and  upon 
the  lands  where  those  people  are  needed,  so  sorely  needed,  not  only  in 
agricultural  but  in  other  industries. 

You  all  know,  gentlemen,  that  every  attempt  made  by  private 
effort  or  private  corporations  has  failed  to  move  these  people.  They 
have  tried.  The  railroads  have  spent  thousands  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  with  that  object  in  view.  They  want  to  move 
these  people;  they  want  to  make  them  producers.  There  is  a  rail- 
road system  out  in  my  country  that  has  no  land  for  sale,  but  it  is 
spending  thousands  of  dollars  to  find  the  man  for  the  land  and  to 
find  the  land  for  the  man,  provided,  of  course,  the  land  is  in  terri- 
tory tributary  to  the  railroad  lines.  Of  course  we  all  know  why 
they  want  them.  They  ought  to  have  them.  They  are  encouraging 
the  upbuilding  of  the  agricultural  and  stock-raising  industries.  It 
is  a  selfish  motive,  but  they  are  doing  right;  they  are  helping  the 
State.  But  they  are  not  succeeding  largely  in  getting  the  men. 
They  are  getting  a  great  many,  but  they  are  not  succeeding  in  creat- 
ing a  constant  migration  of  the  people  in  overcrowded  cities. 

We  know  that  private  enterprise  can  not  do  it.  We  know,  if  we 
have  studied  the  subject,  that  we  must  have  the  influence  of  govern- 
mental authority.  We  know  that  Canada  has  discovered  this  fact — 
discovered  it  officially  before  we  have — and  yet  none  of  us  will  con- 
cede that  the  Canadians  are  brighter  men  than  we  are.  Eight  within 
a  stone's  throw  of  my  office  in  Omaha  is  the  office  of  the  Canadian 
Immigration  Bureau,  and  the  sign  over  the  door  is  this :  "  Canadian 
Government  Office  " — those  three  words  in  big  letters ;  and  down  be- 
low there  is  another  line :  "  Western  Canada  Lands.'*  That  sign 
brings  in  the  people  who  want  to  go  to  Canada,  and  they  know  when 
they  go  into  that  office  that  they  are  dealing  with  the  Canadian  Gov- 
ernment; that  they  are  not  dealing  with  a  private  land  company  or 
a  public  land  company — in  the  sense  of  a  corporation,  I  mean.  The 
Canadian  Government  wins  their  confidence  right  at  the  start;  the 
representative  sees  to  it  that  it  does ;  and  it  treats  them  right.  Can- 
ada has  got  to  treat  them  right.  What  is  the  result  ?  This  man  in 
the  Omaha  office  within  recent  years  has  cajoled  25,000  heads  of 
families  from  our  region  to  go  to  western  Canada.  Those  men,  he 
said,  took  with  them  $21,000,000. 

Now,  that  is  merely  a  local  item.  You  have  read  the  figures  of 
the  number  of  men  whom  the  Canadians  claim  to  have  induced  to  go 
to  Canada  within  recent  years.  I  have  the  figures  in  my  pocket,  and 
I  think  that  in  the  last  five  years  something  like  375,000  Americans 
have  been  attracted  to  go  across  the  border.  This  is  hard  to  believe, 
when  we  know  we  have  got  a  whole  lot  better  land,  a  whole  lot  better 
climate;  we  have  got  a  whole  lot  better  country.  But  we  are  not 
telling  our  people  so;  we  are  not  telling  our  people  in  Nebraska  that 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  107 

that  is  so.  Our  legislators,  made  up  of  ruralists,  have  little  con- 
ception of  the  subject;  they  are  standing  in  their  own  light.  They 
must  be  taught  the  merits  of  the  subject.  One  object  of  this  con- 
ference is  to  encourage  the  preparation  of  literature  that  will  edu- 
cate these  legislators  and  the  people  generally  up  to  the  requirements 
of  the  case. 

Now,  gentlemen,  unless  we  can  bring  to  bear  the  influence  of  State 
governments  in  line  with  the  resolutions  adopted  by  this  conference ; 
unless  we  can  bring  to  bear  the  influence  of  the  Federal  Governmenty 
through  the  immigration  officials,  upon  the  minds  of  foreign-born 
people  or  natives  in  the  larger  cities,  we  will  never  move  them  to  the 
land.  They  won't  believe  the  representations  made  by  the  private 
land  companies.  They  should  have  information  presented  to  them 
upon  authority  of  the  States,  certified  up  here  at  Mr.  Powderly's 
office  and  distributed  by  Mr.  Powderly  under  authority  of  the  Fed- 
eral, Government.  The  representations  with  respect  to  the  advan- 
tages of  farming  in  Iowa,  in  Nebraska,  in  Kansas,  and  in  every  other 
State  bidding  for  workers — the  intimate  facts  which  every  pros- 
pective settler  wants  to  know  and  must  know — have  got  to  be  put  on 
paper  and  put  out  upon  the  authority  of  those  States  and  the  au- 
thority of  the  Federal  Government. 

After  that  is  done,  I  would  propose  that  under  an  adequate  appro- 
priation at  the  hands  of  Congress  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  here 
should  put  men  in  the  States  or  in  the  cities,  a  few  of  the  big  cities^ 
maybe  a  representative  in  every  State ;  that  is  a  matter  of  detail.  But 
we  are  here,  as  I  believe,  to  advocate  a  large  appropriation  for  that 
specific  purpose.  We  are  here,  as  I  gather,  to  advocate  such  an  ap- 
propriation and  to  go  back  and  tell  our  people  the  very  great  need  of 
such  work.  I  believe  that  the  Government  has  got  to  send  out  its 
agents  into  these  various  cities  and  organize  the  various  nationalities, 
and  tell  those  people  what  we  have  in  all  the  States  for  them,  the 
millions  of  acres  that  we  want  them  to  cultivate.  We  want  them  to 
have  this  information  upon  Government  authority,  both  State  and 
National,  and  since  Canada  has  succceeded  beyond  all  expectations 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it  brings  to  bear  such  governmental  influ- 
ence upon  the  situation,  it  seems  to  me  as  plain  as  the  nose  on  a 
man's  face  that  we  may  profit  immensely  by  the  adoption  of  such  a 
policy. 

So,  without  detaining  you  further,  although  there  is  much  more  1 
would  like  to  say,  I  will  conclude  in  the  hope  that  the  spirit  and  net 
result  of  this  conference  may  be  to  emphasize,  first,  the  need  of  co- 
operation between  the  States.  Let  the  States  group  themselves  to- 
gether— those  of  the  West  in  one  group,  those  of  the  Northwest  in 
another,  those  of  the  South  in  another,  and  so  on — to  bring  about 
unity  of  action.     After  they  have  bunched  up  (gotten  together),  and 


108  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND   OTHERS. 

even  before  they  pool  issues,  we  want  to  bring  about  cooperation  be- 
tween them  and  the  Federal  authorities,  all  to  the  purpose  of  larger 
Federal  appropriations  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  case  and 
larger  State  appropriations  for  the  same  purpose.  I  want  to  empha- 
size further  that  the  spirit  of  this  conference  should  be  in  the  sense 
of  a  recommendation  that  the  States  need  and  expect  the  leadership 
of  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Immigration  in  this  matter.  We  in  the 
States  do  not  realize  the  importance  of  the  case.  We  do  not  know 
what  to  do  to  arrest  the  continued  diminution  of  farm  laborers.  AVe 
want  to  be  told  what  to  do.  Our  people  will  listen  to  that  which 
emanates  from  the  Federal  authorities  in  the  Immigration  Service. 
We  can  start  something  with  such  a  lead,  and  therefore  I  hope  that 
the  delegates  here  may  go  home  with  that  idea  in  vieAv  and  try  to 
bring  about  this  cooperation  and  this  leadership. 

I  thank  you.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Haines,  of  Utah.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  just  want  to  say  a  word  in 
regard  to  conditions  in  Utah;  and  I  first  wish  to  congratulate  our 
honorable  president  on  his  wisdom  in  calling  this  convention  and  to 
thank  him  for  the  invitation  extended  me  to  attend.     [Applause.] 

The  bureau  of  immigration,  labor,  and  statistics  of  Utah,  which 
State  I  have  the  honor  to  represent,  is  an  infant.  We  are  only  six 
months  old,  and  consequently  I  came  here  not  to  give  information, 
but  to  receive  it.  I  want  to  say  that  I  am  fully  in  accord  with  what 
has  been  done  here  and  the  resolutions  which  have  been  passed.  I 
will  briefly  give  you  an  idea  of  the  conditions  in  Utah.  I  have  pre- 
pared a  short  paper  on  the  subject,  and  it  will  take  me  only  a  few 
minutes  to  read  it : 

The  immigration  needs  of  Utah  are  somewhat  different  from  those  advanced 
by  any  State  official  who  has  yet  spoken  in  this  conference.  My  State  does  not 
need  an  influx  of  farm  hands  to  garner  the  crops  at  harvest  time  or  the  turning 
away  of  any  considerable  number  of  persons,  desirable  or  undesirable,  because 
of  any  congested  condition  in  her  one  large  city,  that  of  Salt  Lake.  What  she 
desires  most  is  a  whole  army — in  fact,  several  armies — of  industrious,  intelli- 
gent home  seekers  to  settle  upon  her  vast  tracts  of  rich  and  fertile  lands. 

The  State  has  an  area  of  nearly  55,000,000  acres,  23,000,000  of  which  are 
subject  to  agricultural  development.  Only  one-tenth  of  this  vast  area  of  agri- 
cultural land  is  as  yet  in  private  ownership,  the  balance  being  free  for  entry 
to  citizens  or  those  who  have  or  may  declare  their  intention  of  becoming  such. 
The  late  census  returns  show  that  the  average  size  of  Utah's  22,000  farms  is 
157  acres,  and  since  the  census  figures  were  obtained  a  considerable  number  of 
enlarged  homestead  entries  of  320  acres  each  have  been  made,  which  will  un- 
doubtedly increase  the  average  size  of  farms  to  a  much  larger  figure. 

As  is  well  known,  Utah  is  the  pioneer  State  to  first  practice  and  later  perfect 
the  system  of  growing  farm  crops  by  means  of  irrigation,  to-day  recognized 
as  a  mere  system  of  having  at  the  farmer's  command  the  means  by  which  he 
may  turn  water  onto  his  land  at  such  times  and  seasons  when  his  growing 
or  prospective  crops  most  need  it.     This  method  is  now  a  perfected  science,  and 


CONFERENCE  OF  STATE   OFFICIALS.  109^ 

so  easily  and  readily  applied  that  it  requires  no  greater  skill  than  that  pos- 
sessed by  a  man  of  limited  intelligence. 

Perhaps  greater  than  any  other  agricultural  college  in  the  Union,  not  except- 
ing those  of  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  or  Maine,  is  the  one  located  at  Logan,  Utah, 
It  has  become  great  because  it  has  had  great  problems  to  solve.  Besides  that 
of  irrigation,  has  been  the  great  question  not  how  best  to  increase  the  fertility 
of  the  soil  of  our  State,  but  to  ascertain  the  best  means  to  rid  this  soil  of  some  of 
its  high  percentage  of  fertile  constituents.  The  Census  Bureau  states  that 
some  $17,000  worth  of  imported  fertilizers  were  placed  upon  the  lands  of  Utah 
in  1909,  but  outside  of  an  infinitesimal  amount  used  by  florists  I  have  been 
unable  to  ascertain  where  any  such  amount  was  employed.  As  is  generally 
understood,  the  soils  of  the  arid  States  are  much  richer  than  are  the  soils  of 
the  humid  sections  of  the  country.  Their  fertility  is  constantly  maintained 
by  the  silt  deposited  upon  them  from  the  waters  of  the  mountain  streams. 
The  college  has  been  confronted  by  various  conditions  not  found  in  other  States,, 
and,  in  order  to  demonstrate  directly  to  the  farmer  what  crops  are  best  for  him 
to  grow  in  the  various  sections  of  the  State,  the  agricultural  college  has  in  its 
equipment  a  minature  agricultural  college  on  wheels.  And  thus  provided  the^ 
college  is  annually  taken  by  a  staff  of  eminent  professors  to  the  remotest,  as 
well  as  to  the  more  accessible  agricultural  sections  of  the  State.  There  is  no 
particular  need  for  the  native  or  the  immigrant  to  go  to  the  agricultural  col- 
lege for  a  course  in  Utah.  The  agricultural  college  goes  to  him  and  clearly 
demonstrates  the  best  means  and  agricultural  methods  applicable  to  his  section 
of  the  State.  If  an  immigrant  farmer  is  not  a  skilled  one  when  he  enters  the 
State  of  Utah,  he  may  become  such  in  a  short  time,  if  he  possesses  eyes  and 
ears  and  an  ordinary  capacity  to  apply  to  his  own  needs  what  he  sees  and  hears. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  wholly,  or  even  partly,  exploit  Utah  before  this  con- 
ference, but  I  wanted  it  to  appear  in  the  record  that  my  State  was  represented 
here,  poorly  as  it  may  be  perhaps.  I  want  to  say  here  that  it  doesn't  cost  a 
great  deal  of  ready  cash  for  an  immigrant  to  establish  himself  on  a  farm  in 
Utah,  and  I  take  it  that  it  is  one  of  the  purposes  of  this  conference  to  acquaint 
the  migrating  world  with  the  fact  that  there  are  portions  of  the  United  States 
where  a  home  seeker  can  buy  magnificent  fertile  land  for  from  $25  to  $75  an 
acre,  with  water  rights  perpetually  vested  in  the  land,  by  paying  10  per  cent 
down  at  the  time  of  purchase  and  the  deferred  payments  in  10  annual  install- 
ments at  6  per  cent  interest;  and  the  State  will  protect  the  purchaser  in  all  of 
his  rights.  Or  an  immigi'ant  may  come  to  Utah  and  enter  land  under  the 
various  land  acts  yet  existing. 

Under  section  6  of  the  enlarged  homestead  act  he  may  enter  320  acres  of  arid 
land  and  not  be  required  to  live  upon  his  homestead.  He  may  seek  or  obtain 
any  kind  of  labor  he  is  able  to  perform  in  any  part  of  the  State,  and  while  so 
working  earn  the  means  to  reclaim  his  homestead  entry  by  annually  clearing, 
plowing,  and  tilling  a  small  area  of  his  farm,  so  that  at  the  end  of  five  years 
he  will  be  able  to  obtain  a  Government  patent  to  his  entry.  Such  land  as  this 
in  sections  of  the  State  having  an  annual  precipitation  of  12  inches  or  more 
this  year  grew  40  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre,  and  has  averaged  in  the  last 
five  years  26.7  bushels  of  wheat  to  the  acre,  which  rarely  sells  at  less  than  $1 
per  bushel  in  Utah.  The  average  cost  of  clearing,  plowing,  and  seeding  the 
land  and  harvesting  a  crop  on  such  land  as  is  here  referred  to  is  less  than  $1> 
an  acre.  It  costs  but  $22  to  file  on  an  entire  half  section  of  land  like  this 
in  Utah  and  about  the  same  amount  when  final  proof  is  made.  In  some  irri- 
gated sections  of  the  State  my  office  has  records  showing  a  yield  of  19  bushels 
of  alfalfa  seed  to  the  acre  this  year.    The  average  yield  is  between  7  and  9. 


110  DISTRIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

This  sounds  very  big,  but  come  out  to  Utah  and  I  will  show  you  the  men  who 
have  raised  that  amount  per  acre,  the  land  upon  which  it  was  grown,  and  a 
thrashing-machine  crew  that  thrashed  it  out.  Think  of  $175  taken  from  an  acre 
of  hay  land.  Think  of  hay  worth  a  dollar  a  forkfull,  then  think  of  men  who  say 
they  are  unable  to  make  a  living  for  themselves  and  families.  For  from  $250 
to  $500  cash  a  man  may  acquire  immediate  possession  of  a  tract  of  this  sort 
of  land  in  my  State,  and  make  enough  off  of  it  each  year  to  maintain  himself 
and  those  dependent  upon  him  and  meet  his  deferred  payments  and  interest. 

You  men  who  live  in  States  that  are  crying  "  congested  population  "  may 
tell  the  people  of  the  opportunities  existing  in  Utah,  where  the  density  of 
population  is  only  4.5  persons  to  the  square  mile.  Tell  them  of  the  plentiful 
quantity,  the  goodness,  and  the  cheapness  of  the  land  in  Utah.  We  have  five 
beet-sugar  factories  in  the  State  that  will  this  year  produce  125,000,000  pounds 
of  sugar.  It  is  undisputed  that  Utah  raises  more  tons  of  sugar  beets  to  ih(^ 
acre  that  contain  a  higher  percentage  of  saccharine  matter  than  any  o; 
State  in  the  Union.  We  want  more  beet  raisers,  a  great  many  more;  moie 
dairymen;  more  honey  raisers;  more  pork  and  other  live-stock  raisers.  All 
of  these  industries  are  great  dividend  producers  in  the  Beehive  State.  Social 
conditions  are  ideal.  The  State  was  first  settled  by  a  hard-toiling  class  of 
pioneers,  many  of  whom  were  foreign  bom,  and  of  whom  many  are  yet  living. 
Both  they  and  their  children  extend  a  cordial  hand  of  welcome  to  all  comers 
who  are  industrious  and  law  abiding.  Social  and  educational  conditions  are 
most  excellent.  Statistics  show  that  there  is  no  healthier  State  in  the  Union 
than  Utah. 

I  thank  you.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Brown,  of  New  Jersey.  Mr.  Chairman,  about  40  years  ago  I 
had  an  uncle,  one  of  these  pioneers  that  this  gentleman  spoke  of,  who 
went  into  what  was  then  known  on  the  map  as  the  Great  American 
Desert  and  helped  found  the  city  of  Salt  Lake.  They  hauled  their 
provisions  600  miles  in  wagons  for  a  year  and  a  half  until  they  could 
get  the  water  down  from  the  mountains.  Now  the  gentleman  shows 
you  that  it  is  a  wonderful  producing  section. 

Mr.  Haines,  of  Utah.  If  I  had  plenty  of  time  I  could  tell  you  lots 
of  interesting  things  about  Utah. 

Mr.  Bkown,  of  New  Jersey.  Now,  what  we  want  is  a  better  under- 
standing between  the  States  and  the  Federal  Government  and  a  bet- 
ter understanding  between  the  departments  of  agriculture,  immi- 
gration, and  labor  in  the  several  States.  Not  only  do  we  need  these 
men  on  the  farms,  on  the  land,  but  they  need  the  information  to  en- 
able them  to  stay  on  that  land.  The  gentleman  has  said  that  they 
grow  great  crops  of  wheat  and  fruit  in  Utah.  Now,  in  New  Jersey 
wheat  is  a  thing  of  the  past;  cattle  raising  is  a  thing  of  the  past; 
dairying  is  fast  going  the  same  way.  We  have  to  take  up  something 
that  can  be  made  profitable  in  our  section.  Now,  then,  I  take  it  that 
one  of  the  needs  of  this  conference  is  to  show  the  people  who  are 
going  on  the  land  where  they  can  go  to  be  successful.  You  do  not 
want  a  wheat  man  in  a  truck  country,  or  a  truck  man  in  a  wheat 
country,  and  so  on.    These  are  practical  things  that  should  be  taken 


CONFERENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  Ill 

up  in  this  connection.  Not  only  do  we  want  the  men  to  go  out  on 
the  land,  but  they  must  be  men  who  can  make  good.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Webb.  Mr.  Chairman,  although  Delaware  is  not  usually  recog- 
nized as  the  largest  State  in  the  Union  [laughter],  the  delegation 
from  Delaware  is  perhaps  the  largest  delegation  here;  but  we  have 
not  very  far  to  come,  and  we  came  over  to  learn.  I  want  to  say  that 
the  delegation  is  very  much  pleased  that  a  call  of  this  kind  was  made 
and  very  much  pleased  with  the  outcome  of  this  conference ;  and  we 
shall  go  back  with  the  feeling  that  the  time  has  been  exceedingly 
well  spent. 

Delaware,  while  small,  is  still  large  enough  to  hold  a  good  many 
more  people  than  we  have.  Our  farmers  still  want  more  farm  hands. 
They  can  use  them  to  an  advantage  and  to  a  profit.  Moreover,  we 
have  undelevoped  lands,  strange  as  that  may  seem — a  little  State, 
right  close  to  the  largest  centers  of  population;  that  is,  where  the 
congested  population  of  the  United  States  is — with  good  land  still 
unused;  but  that  is  a  fact.  And  we  have  also  a  man  in  the  State 
who  is  large  enough  to  build  a  road — not  a  macadam  road,  but  a 
bitholithic  pavement,  30  feet  wide  and  a  hundred  miles  long,  costing 
$2,000,000;  and  we  expect  our  farmers,  who  are  prosperous,  to  slip 
up  to  New  York  City  in  their  automobiles  and  bring  their  farm  la- 
borers down.  So  we  consider  that  we  are  in  a  position,  with  the 
cooperation  that  we  shall  receive  through  the  correlation  of  the 
immigration  officials  and  other  forces,  to  greatly  benefit  our  State. 

Mr.  Daniels.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  nominations  committee  is  ready 
to  submit  its  report,  if  so  desired. 

The  nominations  committee  recommends  that  there  be  an  executive 
committee  of  nine,  consisting  of  an  honorary  president,  a  president, 
a  vice  president,  a  treasurer,  a  secretary,  and  four  other  members. 

It  was  the  unanimous  sentiment  of  the  committee  that  if  it  were 
not  for  the  fact  that  it  might  embarrass  him,  on  account  of  his  offi- 
cial position,  Mr.  Powderly  would  be  the  common  choice  for  presi- 
dent. It  was,  however,  the  feeling  of  the  committee  that  it  probably 
would  embarrass  Mr.  Powderly  to  be  the  active  president  of  this 
organization;  but  the  committee  voted  to  use  every  possible  per- 
suasion, and  to  recommend  that  you  use  every  possible  persuasion, 
to  get  him  to  lend  the  weight  of  his  influence  and  name  to  this  work 
by  accepting  the  honorary  presidency.  Therefore  the  officers  that 
it  recommends  are  as  follows: 

For  honorary  president,  Hon.  T.  V.  Powderly. 

For  president.  Prof.  John  R.  Commons,  of  the  Industrial  Com- 
mission of  Wisconsin. 

For  vice  president,  Mr.  A.  P.  Sandles,  Secretary  of  Agriculture  of 
Ohio. 


112  DISTEIBUTION   OF   ADMITTED  ALIENS   AND   OTHERS. 

For  treasurer,  Mr.  Charles  F.  Gettemy,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Sta- 
tistics of  Massachusetts. 

For  secretary,  Miss  Frances  A.  Kellor,  of  the  Bureau  of  Industries 
and  Immigration  of  New  York  State. 

For  the  other  four  members  of  the  committee,  Mr.  J.  F.  Dene- 
chaud,  secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Immigration  of  Louisiana; 
Mr.  J.  B.  Haynes,  special  State  commissioner  from  Nebraska;  Mr. 
Robert  N.  Lynch,  general  manager  of  the  California  Develoj)ment 
Board;  Mr.  Raymond  A.  Pearson,  commissioner  of  agriculture  of 
the  State  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Cunningham.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  make  a  point  of 
inquiry  as  to  Mr.  Lynch.  Would  he  not  have  to  present  his  creden- 
tials from  the  governor  before  he  would  be  eligible  for  membership 
on  the  board? 

The  Chairman.  The  Chair  would  rule  that  he  is  here  now  and 
eligible.  [Applause.]  And  inasmuch  as  he  is  eligible  to  this  con- 
vention as  a  delegate — these  officers,  you  know,  will  carry  over  to 
next  year,  when  a  further  determination  can  be  made. 

Mr.  McLaughlin.  Mr.  Lynch,  I  believe,  has  credentials  from  the 
governor  of  California  to  act  as  commissioner  on  his  recent  trip  to 
Europe. 

Mr.  Packer.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  that  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee be  accepted. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

The  Chairman.  You  have  heard  the  motion  that  the  report  of  the 
committee  be  accepted.  May  I  say  a  word  before  you  act  upon  it? 
I  do  not  know  whether  there  is  any  salary  attached  to  that  office  of 
honorary  president  [laughter] 

Mr.  Daniels.  There  ought  to  be  a  very  large  one. 

The  Chairman.  I  do  not  want  to  accept  any,  anyhow.  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  would  be  agreeable  to  the  Secretary  for  me  to  act 
or  not.  I  do  not  know  anything  about  that;  this  is  so  entirely  new. 
As  the  lady  said  when  she  had  been  courted  for  50  years  and  finally 
proposed  to,  "  This  is  so  sudden."  [Laughter.]  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  would  be  the  right  thing  or  not  for  me  to  accept  it.  I  see 
no  impropriety  in  it,  so  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned. 

Mr.  Ross.  That  settles  it. 

The  Chairman.  But  I  do  not  know  how  the  Secretary  will  feel 
about  it.  However,  I  will  accept  it  on  the  condition  that  if  the  Sec- 
retary does  not  permit  it  I  will  notify  you  and  you  can  select  some 
one  else. 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  your  further  pleasure?  I  suppose  I 
ought  to  make  a  speech  of  acceptance. 

Mr.  Ross.  Sure. 


CONFEEENCE   OF   STATE   OFFICIALS.  113 

The  Chairman.  Well,  I  accept.  I  generally  limit  my  speeches  to 
so  much  when  I  can  get  out  of  making  a  longer  one. 

A  Delegate.  Mr.  Chairman,  my  recollection  is  that  the  motion 
was  that  the  committee  report  be  received.  If  we  have  not  adopted 
it,  l^t  ug  have  the  motion  corrected. 

The  Chairman.  If  there  is  no  objection  it  will  be  understood  that 
it  is  received  and  adopted. 

I  want  to  say  that  in  A^our  selection  of  an  active  president  the  word 
"  active  "  fits  in  exactly.  He  is  that  all  over.  I  have  known  of  him 
and  of  his  work  for  many  years;  modesty  on  my  part  would  not 
prevent  me  from  telling  you  how  many  years,  but  in  deference  to 
your  wishes,  which  have  not  been  expressed  to  me,  I  will  not  say  how 
long.  I  will  say  that  a  more  capable  man,  or  one  more  thoroughly 
in  earnest  and  persevering  in  his  efforts  you  could  not  find  than  Mr- 
Commons. 

Mr.  Cunningham.  I  want  to  indicate,  Mr.  Chairman,  by  reading 
a  telegram  I  have  just  received  from  the  governor  of  Texas,  that 
there  is  some  sentiment  down  there  in  favor  of  cooperation.  I  ex- 
plained yesterday  the  peculiar  predicament  we  are  in,  and.  that  pos- 
sibly, in  order  to  establish  an  immigration  bureau,  an  amendment  to 
the  State  constitution  might  have  to  be  submitted  by  the  legislature 
The  commissioner  of  agriculture  wired  me  yesterday  saying  that  he 
was  willing  to  lend  his  hearty  cooperation  as  soon  as  he  was  per- 
mitted to,  and  I  have  just  received  this  telegram  from  the  governor, 
which  does  not  bear  on  the  real  purpose  of  this  conference,  but  indi- 
cates that  he  is  interested: 

Austin  Cunningham 

(Care  of  Conference  of  State  Immigration  OflScials). 
Answering  your  letter  of  November  11,  Texas  has  many  thousand  iudustrlons 
and   prosperous  German,    Swedish,   Norwegian,   and  Bohemian  farmers.    We 
would  like  to  welcome  many  thousand  more  such  as  we  already  have,  an^  j;qi| 
can  express  this  as  my  view  to  the  conference. 

O.  B.  Colquitt,  Oovernot'    - 

Mr.  Haines,  of  Utah.  Mr.  Chairman,  there  is  just  one  question  I 
would  like  to  ask  you.  Is  it  your  opinion  that  the  future  conferences 
of  this  conference  will  necessarily  have  to  be  held  in  Washington  ? 

The  Chairman.  That  is  for  the  body  to  decide.  Not  necessarily, 
of  course. 

Mr.  Haines,  of  Utah.  Before  I  left  Salt  Lake  I  had  a  conference 
with  the  governor  and  the  commercial  bodies,  and  they  urged  me,  ii 
it  was  possible,  to  get  the  next  conference  in  Salt  Lake  City. 

Salt  Lake  City  is  a  great  conference  city.  There  are  a  great  many 
things  of  interest  there  that  everybody,  especially  in  the  East,  would 
like  to  see;  and  if  through  any  possible  arrangement  we  could  have 
the  next  conference  held  in  Salt  Lake  City  I  will  assure  you  you  wiU 
get  a  splendid  welcome  and  a  good  time. 

"23508*— 12— 8  ■ 


114  DISTRIBUTION   OF  ADMITTED  ALIENS  AND  OTHEBS. 

Mr.  Harris.  Shall  we  take  any  action  in  regard  to  the  meeting  of 
the  next  conference?    How  will  that  be  disposed  of? 

The  Chairman.  I  do  not  know  whether  the  committee  considered 
that  or  not. 

Mr.  Kracke.  Mr.  Chairman,  in  order  to  bring  the  matter  officially 
before  the  conference,  I  move  that  the  matter  of  the  selection  of  the 
place  for  the  next  conference  be  left  with  the  executive  committee. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

Miss  Kellob.  Mr.  Chairman,  that  is  wholly  nnnecessary,  as  the 
first  resolution  says  that  there  shall  be  appointed  an  executive  com- 
mittee with  full  power. 

The  Chairman.  Well,  we  will  let  the  motion  go  through  any- 
way and  that  will  clinch  it. 

The  question  was  taken,  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman.  What  is  your  further  pleasure? 

Miss  Kellor.  Mr.  Chairman,  before  adjournment,  the  resolutions 
committee  has  another  resolution,  which  I  will  read : 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  present  conference  express  to  Mr. 
Powderly,  the  honorable  Chief  of  the  Federal  Division  of  Information  of  the 
Bureau  of  Immigation,  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  their  gratitude 
to  him  for  calling  them  together  and  their  appreciation  of  the  admirable  and 
effective  manner  in  which  he  has  presided  at  the  sessions  of  this  conference. 

Upon  motion  duly  made  and  seconded,  the  resolution  was  adopted 
by  a  rising  vote. 

Mr.  Trenor.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  we  adjourn  unless  there  is 
some  further  business  to  come  before  the  conference. 

The  Chairman.  I  would  ask  the  members  riot  to  adjourn  yet.  You 
remember  you  have  an  appointment  with  the  President  at  2.30,  and  a 
better  way  of  getting  to  him  in  a  body  I  can  not  think  of  than  to  have 
you  meet  here ;  because,  if  you  meet  anywhere  else,  you  will  come  in 
straggling  one  by  one,  and  you  may  not  get  there.  It  doesn't  make 
any  difference  what  your  politics  or  religion  may  be ;  I  know  you  all 
want  to  shake  hands  with  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  he 
is  so  anxious  to  shake  hands  with  you  [laughter]  that  I  hope  you 
won't  disappoint  him, 

Mr.  Trenor.  We  will  meet  here  at  2  o'clock,  I  suppose? 

The  Chairman.  Yes ;  meet  here  at  2  o'clock. 

Now,  just  a  moment.  This  is  entirely  foreign  to  the  subject,  but, 
being  of  Irish  "  per  cent,"  I  take  the  liberty  occasionally  of  going 
outside  of  the  ordinary,  and  have  always  been  forgiven  for  it.  At 
least,  I  have  not  heard  anything  to  the  contraiy.  I  want  to  tell  you 
about  this  little  gavel  which  I  have  in  my  hand.  I  am  "  stuck  "  on 
that.  I  made  it  in  1872,  before  the  great  majority  of  you  were  born. 
It  presided  over  a  meeting  of  the  Machinists  and  Blacksmiths'  Inter- 
national Union,  of  which  I  was  a  member  in  1872,  in  Albany,  and 
afterwards  was  used  in  other  organizations.    It  was  used  by  me  in 


CONFERENCE   OP   STATE   OFFICIALS.  115 

every  convention  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  from  the  beginning  up  to 
1893,  when  I  resigned.  It  was,  in  1886,  taken  to  England  by  a  dele- 
gate who  used  it  in  presiding  over  the  Window  Glass  Workers'  Asso- 
ciation of  the  World.  While  over  there  a  meeting  was  held  in  Man- 
chester, at  which  Mr.  Gladstone  presided,  and,  though  they  use  a  bell 
over  there  to  regulate  meetings,  he,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of 
the  American  delegate,  used  this  gavel.  John  Bright  used  it,  Charles 
Bradlaugh,  Charles  Stewart  Parnell,  Michael  Davitt,  and  I  sent  it 
to  Milan,  in  Italy,  where  Louis  Kossuth  was  living  at  the  time,  and 
though  totally  blind  he  tapped  the  table ;  I  sent  with  it  a  little  Ameri- 
can flag  for  him,  and  he  signed  the  letter  of  thanks  for  the  little  gift 
and  told  me  he  took  much  pleasure  in  using  this  gavel  in  tapping  the 
table  in  front  of  him.  Every  President,  from  and  including  Mr. 
Hayes  to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  used  the  gavel,  and  I  am  going  this  afternoon 
to  ask  the  President  to  hold  it  in  his  hand  for  a  little  while. 

Now,  the  men  who  have  handled  it — I  could  not  tell  you  their 
names;  they  are  in«umerable — but  there  were  two  women.  I  think 
you  have  got,  without  my  saying  it,  an  idea  that  I  am  something  of 
a  woman's  rights  man,  because  I  appointed  a  woman  chairman  of 
that  committee  yesterday,  the  first  committee  on  resolutions.  [Ap- 
plause.] ' 

Mr.  Ross.  Also  in  accordance  with  the  platform  of  the  Knights  of 
Labor. 

The  Chairman.  That  is  true ;  it  recognized  no  distinction  between 
the  rights  of  the  sexes.  Frances  Willard — some  of  you  are  Prohibi- 
tionists, some  are  not,  but  even  those  who  are  not  admired  her  because 
of  her  sterling  qualities — used  it  on  many  an  occasion,  and  Susan  B. 
Anthony  also  used  it.  [Applause.]  I  could  go  on  for  an  hour  tell- 
ing you  all  the  people  who  did  use  it,  but  I  shall  esteem  it  still  more 
highly  because  I  was  enabled  to  use  it  in  presiding  over  the  first  con- 
ference of,  to  my  mind,  the  greatest  force  in  the  United  States  to-day 
for  its  betterment ;  because  out  of  this  will  grow  some  of  the  greatest 
things  that  you  can  imagine  in  building  up  our  country  and  making 
our  people  better  understand  the  men  and  women  who  come  to  us,  and 
their  need  for  proper  instruction  and  proper  care  after  they  get  to 
us.  So,  with  this  little  history  of  the  gavel,  I  shall  await  your 
pleasure. 

Mr.  Trenor.  I  move  we  adjourn,  to  meet  here  at  2  o'clock. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried. 

Accordingly,  at  11.55  a.  m.,  the  conference  adjourned. 


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